Coco Palms fire deals $600,000 in damage

The shuttered Coco Palms Resort sustained about $600,000 in damage from a Fourth of July fire, the Kauai Fire Department said Tuesday, and the cause of the fire remains under investigation.

But that hasn’t stopped Bob Jasper, site manager, from doing his job of holding tours at the iconic hotel. He has just altered the route.

"We can’t go through the breezeway anymore," he said, noting it was burned by the fire. "It’s just sad to see most parts of it gone."

Jasper posted a 24-minute video on YouTube showing the destroyed areas. The video had been viewed more than 700 times by noon Tuesday.

In it Jasper pans over the parts of the resort, pointing out that the lagoon terrace lounge and the lagoon dining room under the breezeway remained intact. A ceramic hand-painted, tiled mural in the terrace lounge went unscathed.

The blaze started at about noon Friday and was contained by firefighters about two hours later. It wasn’t extinguished, however, until 11:30 a.m. Sunday.

Excavators were used to demolish the main lobby, which was destroyed.

Tyler Greene, principal of Coco Palms Hui LLC, said hotel rooms above the lounge and restaurant were damaged, although the number of affected rooms hasn’t yet been determined.

Coco Palms Hui wants to rebuild the hotel where Elvis Pres­ley filmed the wedding scene for the 1961 movie "Blue Hawaii." Developers announced plans to open in 2017 under Hyatt Hotels’ management and is seeking $125 million in financing to acquire the land and renovate the hotel.

The blaze burned off a giant conch shell that hung over the main breezeway. Jasper has said developers would re-create the shell based on its original design and place it in the original spot.

Though saddened by the damage caused by the fire, Jasper was optimistic that developers will overcome the setback and succeed in plans to rebuild the Coco Palms.

Near the end of the YouTube video, Jasper estimated the fire affected only about a half-acre of the resort. "We got 40-plus acres back here untouched," he said. "Beautiful, and it’s going to be even better. We’ve been down but let’s go. It’s still going to come back."

To view the YouTube video of the damage caused by the fire at Coco Palms, go to bit.ly/1n9sN1w.