The devastation of Lahaina, Maui from a wildfire on Aug. 8 was tragically immense with the deaths of least 99 persons and destruction of 2,000 homes, 600 to 800 businesses, and historic sites, some dating back to Kamehameha I and the town as the first capital of the Hawaiian kingdom. It is in the interest of all of us to restore the town and surrounding community not only because of its cultural and historic value, but also because of its contribution to the growth of the state as a leading center of commerce.
Let’s not get caught up in global warming discussions and pushing back the locations of homes and businesses from the shoreline in Lahaina when it was a fire that destroyed the town, not the ocean. Taking away the use of harborfront property would be government overreach. If Amsterdam and Venice can find solutions to keep existing businesses in or near seas in structurally sound buildings, so can Lahaina.
Lahaina generated conservatively $2.7 million in revenues a day with several thousand employees, according to the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. That’s close to a billion dollars a year.
Unless someone has a better billion-dollar-a-year idea, I think we ought to help rebuild the town to what it once was, with safety measures in place, and do it sensitively but quickly. Keep in mind that every day we delay, the Hawaii economy is bleeding $2.7 million a day, and that doesn’t include providing housing or paying unemployment to displaced employees.
The value of Lahaina Town also extends to it being a magnet for entrepreneurs and new businesses: the T.S. Restaurants chain’s first restaurant was Kimo’s in Lahaina; Longhi’s restaurant began here; Mark Ellman of Maui Tacos with 21 restaurants in 11 states had his start in this town; and so did Laren Gartner’s Cheeseburger In Paradise. Hard Rock Cafe and Planet Hollywood chose Lahaina as their first location in Hawaii, and so did Mick Fleetwood’s Fleetwood restaurant.
A number of painters have risen to prominence, including pop artist Davo, above-and-below ocean artist Robert Lyn Nelson, and metaphorical realist painter Vladimir Kush who started selling his paintings in Lahaina, then started his own gallery in the town, and now has galleries in California, Nevada and Florida.
When I was the Lahaina News editor in the 1990s, the number of art galleries grew from 22 to 36 in a five-year period. The town merchants gave birth to nonprofit events called Friday Night Is Art Night, Halloween in Lahaina, A Taste of Lahaina and Festival of Canoes — and donated tens of thousands of dollars to the scholarship fund at Lahainaluna High School annually. Last year, scholarship donations were close to $100,000.
Besides rebuilding Lahaina businesses, we need to help to rebuild the 2,000 homes as soon as possible because they provide permanent housing for many of the Lahaina workers who are now living in government subsidized rentals.
Lahaina is the goose that lays golden eggs. Move or take too long in rebuilding the nest, and guess what happens?
Gary T. Kubota was editor/business manager of the Lahaina News in the early 1990s, and later Maui reporter for the Honolulu Star-Bulletin and Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
