Friends of Kuhio Beach Surfboard Racks is a grassroots initiative to reach out to the City and County of Honolulu and its officials to address concerns in finding reasonable solutions to rebuild the Kuhio Beach Surfboard Rental Lockers Concession at its former location in Kuhio Beach Park (KBP). We felt compelled to write in, after reading the letter to the editor, “City wastes our money fixing up ‘black holes’” (Star-Advertiser, Oct. 13).

The lockers were permanently removed after a second major fire occurred on Oct. 17, 2021, damaging the lockers for the second time in 20 months. (The first fire was in February 2020.)

Up until this year, the city has always supported its citizenry’s love for the ocean and the ancient Hawaiian sport of wave riding on a surfboard by providing locker spaces at KBP; however, this all changed after the October 2021 fire. City officials decided to have the lockers torn down and permanently removed because the Moana Surfrider Hotel did not want them there anymore, which is understandable due to extensive structural damages caused by both fires.

For over 60 years, the lockers have played an essential role in establishing Waikiki’s sense of place, as a gathering place for both locals and visitors alike, as a place to play, socialize and talk story. More importantly, the lockers provided a valuable service to its kupuna (elder) renters and to generations of surfers and their ohana’s mental and physical well-being, by alleviating the burdensome task of having to transport their surfboards to the beach in order to access Waikiki’s world-renowned surf breaks called “Canoes” and “Queens.”

Instead of consulting and working with the vested stakeholders — more than 400 of the former lockers tenants — to find reasonable solutions to minimize future fires and addressing other safety concerns, the city permanently removed the lockers. This was done without any consideration or concern for the negative effects it would have on the kupuna renters, the other former locker tenants and their ohana’s abilities to access the surf breaks.

Although they would not eliminate all fires, perhaps the following suggestions would help minimize future fires and address other safety concerns:

First, we suggest that a buffer zone be created between the Moana Surfrider and the rebuilt lockers. This could be done by downsizing the lockers’ footprint by not including three rows of lockers (each row had approximately 70 spaces) that was previously situated next to, or near, the hotel building.

Second, it was found that the surfboard bags used to cover the surfboards were made from cheap flammable materials, which acted as an accelerant in both fires. Therefore, it is suggested that those types of bags be banned and only surfboard bags made with fireproof or fire retardant fabric be allowed.

Third, to address safety concerns: Because the city Department of Enterprise Services does not have the manpower and resources readily available to manage and monitor the lockers on a daily basis, allow a concessionaire to operate and manage the lockers. The concessionaire’s daily presence will help address safety concerns associated with loitering, thefts and vandalism within the locker areas.

The loss of the surfboard lockers has had a devastating impact on the kupuna surfers and the other former locker tenants’ emotional, psychological, social and spiritual well-being. Adding to the impact is the loss of community and sociocultural connections, which is way too big a price for our citizens to pay.

Thomas J. Copp, James R. Ferdinand and Leonard D. Jenkins are three of the four co-founders of Friends Of Kuhio Beach Surfboard Racks.