Plan to partially destroy Black Point swimming cove up for vote

A controversial plan to partially destroy a popular man-made swimming cove near Diamond Head has won the support of a state coastal lands office.

The state Office of Conservation and Coastal Lands is recommending that the Board of Land and Natural Resources approve a permit sought by the cove’s owner, the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art, to dismantle most of a rock breakwater and scatter the rocks below the cove’s inner wall so people can no longer jump from either structure.

BLNR is scheduled to make a decision at a meeting today. The foundation cited safety and liability concerns as its reason for the proposal.

The estimated $2.5 million project was publicly aired three years ago and has been met with considerable public opposition from those who use the cove or consider it a historic place.

“Why the spending of all this money to destroy the sea wall?” asked Fred Fong, a neighbor who regularly swims in the cove near Black Point. “I don’t understand.”

The foundation, which operates a museum out of what was Doris Duke’s ornate Shangri La estate, said its plan is necessary because other efforts, including warning signs, security guards and a 6-foot fence, haven’t prevented dangerous activity, and the potential for injuries and lawsuits against the foundation remain.

Duke, whose married surname was Cromwell, had the cove known as Cromwell’s built in 1938 as a private yacht basin by dredging a rocky shoreline that had previously been altered to create a saltwater swimming pool. Instead of berthing boats, the 9-foot-deep basin became coveted for swimming, snorkeling, shoreline fishing and surf-break access by the public.

The cove is private property except for a 4-foot-wide shoreline access path that runs along the inland sea wall. Because of this, the foundation fears lawsuits if people injure themselves by jumping off the wall. Such accidents have occurred, and the foundation said statutes that limit liability for injuries at public recreational sites don’t protect a private property owner.

The foundation also said it wants to keep the cove open for public recreation and that its plan will leave an area for swimming protected by a natural basalt dike that’s under the 140-foot-long breakwater.

Under the partial demolition plan, the estimated dike height is zero to 3 feet above mean sea level, which should keep the remaining basin protected from the wash of waves except during high surf, the foundation said. The breakwater height is about 9 feet above mean sea level.

Still, some want the cove to stay the way it is and believe there are better remedies to the foundation’s concerns.

Fong has argued that altering the fence could prevent people from climbing onto or over it to reach the wall. He also suggested beveling the edge of the inland seawall and grouting spaces to prevent people from climbing or jumping off the wall.

The Waialae‐Kahala Neighborhood Board voted 7-0 in June to oppose the foundation’s plan, and the Historic Hawai‘i Foundation argued that the cove is a historic site that shouldn’t be destroyed.

Donna Chuck, who has lived in Black Point for more than 60 years, called the foundation’s plan “unmindful and careless.”

She said in a comment letter that she’s puzzled about the issue of liability cited by the foundation, which has said one person became a quadriplegic and two people became paraplegic after jumps into the cove.

“Many, many people have become paralyzed at Waimea Bay in the shorebreak,” Chuck said. “The (state) is not rushing out there to fill the bay with boulders and fencing off the beach.”

Chuck added that she can only imagine what Doris Duke would think of the plan. “I write this with a heavy heart,” Chuck said in her letter. “Heavy with foreboding that we are losing so much and gaining so little by the forsaken and misbegotten project that imperils a sacred treasure of these magical islands.”

Foundation consultant HHF Planners replied to Chuck that the fence erected in 2014 reduced public use of the cove but didn’t stop unsafe behavior that includes jumping from the breakwater. The consultant also said the state and city are subject to litigation from those injured at beaches.

The Office of Conservation and Coastal Lands, part of the Department of Land and Natural Resources, said in a report that it is sympathetic to the foundation’s desire to reduce injuries.

Regarding the destruction of a historic site, the harbor is recognized by the state as a historic place, but OCCL said neither the breakwater nor the basin can be designated as a historic property.

Overall, OCCL said the foundation’s plan “should have a neutral effect on public access to recreational resources.”

The foundation said in a statement that it’s pleased with the recommendation.

“The resulting project is environmentally sound and allows for the continuation of recreational activities like swimming, snorkeling and fishing while reducing hazards that have resulted in serious injuries such as paraplegia and quadriplegia,” the organization said.

If the board approves a conservation district use permit, the foundation anticipates that it can obtain a required Army Corps of Engineers permit by the end of this year and start dismantling the wall, which should take six to nine months.