Cromwell’s visitors take their last leaps

Kua Miyamoto paid a nostalgic visit Sunday to Cromwell’s to enjoy the dwindling days of jumping off a sea wall before a fence is erected for visitors’ safety.

"It’s kind of sad to see it go," he said of the open sea wall below Doris Duke’s former home on the foot of Diamond Head. "If only people had a little more respect for the place, a little more common sense, we wouldn’t be losing a place like this."

Miyamoto, 32, and several others visiting Cromwell’s on Sunday said they have been jumping off the wall into the calm turquoise water for decades.

On Monday, construction will begin on a 6-foot-high aluminum fence along the sea wall to prevent jumping and injuries. The $160,000 project, paid for by the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art, is expected to be completed in four weeks.

Deborah Pope, executive director of Shangri La, Duke’s former home, said access to the shoreline will be unrestricted during construction. After the fence is up, the ocean will still be accessible from the Diamond Head jetty or the Koko Head stairs.

She said the foundation grew concerned after two teenagers were paralyzed by jumping from the wall in 1993 and 2011.

"We don’t want any more injuries," Pope said. "We don’t want any more kids ending up paraplegic or quadraplegic. That is just not acceptable to us."

Since August 2011 the foundation has been moving to stop people from leaping off the wall. It put up warning signs, then changed those signs to say people have been paralyzed by jumping.

Last year the foundation began posting a security guard during peak hours to warn people about jumping. Those measures had no impact, Pope said.

Working with the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, the founda­tion came up with the idea for a fence about a year ago and secured approvals from the city and state.

It remains unclear, however, who owns the rock wall, Pope said. In the late 1930s Duke acquired some land from the territory of Hawaii, and it’s unknown whether that deed is still valid.

Despite the uncertainty, Pope said the foundation is trying to stop the activity because the charitable organization exists to benefit society.

"It’s not OK with us to have those kinds of injuries happening on what seems like our lot," she said. "We’re really eager to do no harm."

Pope said the area was originally part of a swimming hole later made into a boat basin for Duke, whose former home is now an Islamic-art museum owned by the foundation. She said the new fence is designed to have the least impact on the view.

"We really hope that people will take it seriously and will be mindful of the risks that they take on when they engage in dangerous behavior," Pope said.

Rachael Reynon, 24, of Hono­lulu visited Cromwell’s the past three days to absorb as much of the fenceless scene as possible.

"This is a really special place for me," said Reynon, whose friends introduced her to it three years ago. "It’s so beautiful here."

While she doesn’t support the fence, she understands why the foundation wants it.

"It’s unfortunate that they have to put up a wall, but at least they’re letting us swim here after," she said. "As long as I am able to swim here, I’m thankful."