Public comment sought on surfboard storage for Kuhio Beach Park

The city is seeking public input to determine the next location for a Waikiki public surfboard storage site, which has been closed since the fall of 2021 when a two-alarm fire wiped out a Kuhio Beach Park location for the second time in less than two years.

Nathan Serota, spokesperson for the city De­partment of Parks and Recreation, said the city is seeking solutions that take into account land use, development regulations and management plan requirements. Ideas also should be fiscally responsible and beneficial to the city, Serota said.

Past Kuhio Beach Park surfboard locker rental agreements were managed by the Department of Enterprise Services and generated approximately $150,000 in annual revenue, based on monthly rates of $15 to $40 depending on the user’s classification.

Serota said responses are being gathered through the online form at honolulu.gov/des, and June 15 is the deadline to submit information.

“The city wanted to offer the public a reasonable time frame to provide valuable input on surfboard storage options. After the June 15 deadline, the city will review the responses to help determine options,” Serota said.

Retired businessman Tim Garry, who likes to surf in Waikiki, said the public is clamoring for a new surfboard storage site in Waikiki. Garry said there has been a lot of support for returning the surfboard lockers to their past location, even though fire insurance claims there have been problematic.

“We’ve put together a hui that met with Mayor Rick Blangiardi, Honolulu City Council Chairperson Tommy Waters and Laura Thielen, director of the city Department of Parks and Recreation,” Garry said, adding that a petition to restore the racks also is circulating and has about 500 signatures.

The surfboard lockers have been closed for public use since Oct. 17, 2021, when they were intentionally set ablaze. The fire, which took 10 Honolulu Fire Department resource units, staffed with 37 personnel, about an hour to extinguish, burned 575 surfboards and directly impinged upon the exterior of the Honolulu Police Department Waikiki Substation and the historic Moana Surfrider Hotel.

Many longtime Waikiki surfers like Theresa Strange lost high-value boards that day as well as a gathering place where they’ve made memories for years. On the day of the fire, Strange said she lost a 10-foot, 6-inch glider shaped by local surfboard maker Todd Pinder worth $2,100, as well as a 10-foot Nuuhiwa worth about $1,700.

While board values vary, Strange said the emotional attachment is perhaps the biggest loss.

“The board becomes an extension of yourself because you spend so much time with it,” she said. “If you have a really good one, it’s irreplaceable. There are nuances that make up each board that are translated from the shaper to you.”

During a similar fire on Feb. 27, 2020, Strange lost boards that were shaped by Donald Takayama and Midget Smith, who are now deceased.

In June the city removed the Kuhio Beach Park surfboard lockers due to extensive damage and safety concerns. They had been up only since Aug. 17, 2000, when the city restored the surfboard lockers and surrounding city facilities and property, following an earlier fire.

On Feb. 27, 2020, another intentionally set fire burned 525 surfboards and damaged the Waikiki Beach Center’s restroom facilities and concession stand, the Waikiki Police Substation, the Moana Surfrider Hotel, flagstone walkways, surveillance cameras, light poles and nearby trees.