The statue of Prince Kūhiō at Hoʻai Bay is still standing. When Hurricane Lowell's storm surge came across the South Shore in September, it knocked down rock walls that date to the 15th century. It toppled a rock shrine and tipped over the one-ton boulder that holds the park's plaque. It covered the grass and bougainvillea with asphalt chunks, coral heads and boulders. The statue didn't move. Hawaii News Now reported that caretaker Chad Schimmelfennig's first reaction, when people told him it had survived, was that "there is no way that statue is moving."
Prince Kūhiō Park sits where Lawai Road begins its run along the water toward Spouting Horn. Seven weeks after the storm, that short stretch is coming back one property at a time, and each property has its own timeline. The garden at the far end is open. The heritage park at the near end is being rebuilt by volunteers, a few rocks at a time. The restaurant in the middle is waiting on windows. The schedule for each place comes down to who is paying for the work and how fast that help can arrive.
Where the Road Itself Stands
The storm surge left this stretch in rough shape. Driving it on Sept. 30, the writers at Beat of Hawaii found the road torn up from Prince Kūhiō Park until they passed Lawai Beach Resort. Several oceanfront homes toward Spouting Horn had dumpsters and piles of torn-out material outside. Earlier, The Garden Island described crews at Lawai Beach Resort removing asphalt the surge had lifted and laid across the sidewalk "like carpet."
The shoreline has changed too. On that same drive, Keiki Cove was nearly unrecognizable, with large concrete barriers along the water's edge where the small beach used to be. At the other end of Poʻipū, Brennecke Beach had turned to rocks.
The work this week near Lāwaʻi is on the highway. HDOT has a single-lane closure on Kaumualiʻi Highway near Piko Road and Akemama Road to install a raised crosswalk, and another in Kōloa near Kahili Road for guardrail replacement. Both closures ran 8:30 a.m. to mid-afternoon through Oct. 23. Neither one is on Lawai Road. If you drive out toward Spouting Horn, expect a road that is passable in places but not finished.
Five Weeks for the Garden
The National Tropical Botanical Garden took a direct hit. Kauaʻi Now reported about two feet of sand inside Allerton House and several walls knocked out. Even so, the gardens reopened faster than anything else on the road.
By Oct. 9, NTBG said supporters had given more than $160,000 toward recovery. According to Lāwaʻi Gardens director Tobias Koehler, nearly all core paths in the gardens had been made safe for staff and visitors. Allerton and McBryde tours started again from the garden's headquarters, and NTBG planned to reopen the Lāwaʻi Gardens Visitor Center on Monday, Oct. 19, with tours leaving from there again.
If you're heading over, here's what NTBG's Allerton Garden page lists:
- Visitor Center and Gift Shop: Tuesday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., at 4425 Lāwaʻi Rd.
- Tours: Reservations required. Every tour includes a shuttle from the Visitor Center into the garden.
- Footwear: Closed-toe shoes or hiking sandals with straps over the ankles and toes.
- Phone: 808-742-2623. Tour times have shifted since the storm, so call before you plan around one.
Thursday at 4425 Lawai Road
The Weekly Aloha Market is the first regular weekly gathering back on the corridor. NTBG scheduled its return for Thursday, Oct. 22, so today's market would be the second one since the storm. It runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Lāwaʻi Gardens Visitor Center, with vendors selling spices, sweets, handmade jewelry, clothing, artwork and home goods, plus a free hula performance by Hula Hālau Tamatea Nui O Kauaʻi.
The market works for the corridor right now because of where it is. The Visitor Center sits on Lawai Road across from Spouting Horn, past the worst of the damage. A Thursday visit takes you down the stretch that is still rebuilding, and the money you spend at the stalls stays with local sellers.
Iwa, Iniki, Lowell
Two places on this road have now been through three hurricanes, and they're rebuilding in very different ways.
The Beach House was destroyed by Hurricane ʻIwa in 1982 and rebuilt farther from the shoreline. Hurricane ʻIniki flattened it again in 1992, and it was moved back again. As The Garden Island reported, citing chef Marshall Blanchard's comments to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, Lowell was the first of the three storms the building survived. That third structure was built with stronger materials. It still lost windows, and the surge left a stray coral head outside and ocean rocks inside. In mid-September, Blanchard thought it might reopen by Christmas, depending on supply chains for windows and fixtures. He was candid about the uncertainty:
"You never know the timing of getting things done. It's so up in the air. It's hard to tell all these people how long it's going to be."
As of Sept. 30, the restaurant was boarded up and closed until further notice. Treat Christmas as a hope, not a date. Meanwhile, the management team has been helping feed its 170 staff while repairs are assessed.
Prince Kūhiō Park has the same history. Its cultural sites were damaged in ʻIwa and ʻIniki, and Lowell is the third major storm to hit them. The property is owned and maintained by the Royal Order of Kamehameha, Chapter 3, Kaumualiʻi. Volunteers have cleared most of the debris, but green waste, trees, household debris and boards still need to come out of the large pond. Walls need rebuilding too, including one section that stood about four feet high. Schimmelfennig told Hawaii News Now the plan is to "take things slow and create more community work days to actually educate and have the community be a part of the restoration so that it's the community that is going to rebuild this place."
Rebuilding this way is slower on purpose. Every wall that goes back up is built by people who live nearby. Donations for the park's upkeep go through the nonprofit Nā Kahu.
The Shave Ice Stand in the Lagoon
The smallest business on the road is rebuilding the same way, with help from neighbors. Riptides Shave Ice & Snacks had stood in front of Lawai Beach Resort for at least 25 years. The surge carried the shack into the resort's lagoon. The owner, Mindy Hibbitt, watched it come out by excavator, and the crowd cheered as it was lifted free. The shack is a total loss. Hibbitt plans to rebuild it from the ground up and replace the equipment and stock. The Garden Island reported in early October on a fundraiser held with the Kauaʻi Humane Society to help pay for it. There is no reopening date yet.
Next door, Lawai Beach Resort was operating with damage. On Sept. 30, guests were using the Alii pool and jacuzzi area while the other two pools stayed closed.
Small businesses like these can now apply to a $2 million County program, funded by DBEDT and run by the Chamber of Commerce Hawaii. It offers one-time grants of $5,000 or $10,000 to eligible non-agricultural small businesses and nonprofits hurt by Lowell, first come, first served. DBEDT is holding a free workshop on the program on Thursday, Oct. 29, at 9 a.m. at the Kauaʻi War Memorial Exhibition Center. Eligibility details are at kauaibusinessrecovery.org.
A Few Minutes East, a Fuller Week
Away from Lawai Road, Poʻipū looks close to normal. On the Sept. 30 drive, Poʻipū Beach had crowds, Brennecke's Beach Broiler was open, and Kiahuna Plantation Resort was open with some oceanfront units under repair. The Sheraton Kauai Resort was aiming to reopen Nov. 1, though crews still had plenty of work ahead. The County's Parks Department still lists Poʻipū Beach Park's west-end comfort station as closed until further notice. So is the comfort station at Kukuiʻula Harbor Park.
Here's the South Shore's weekly schedule as it stands, with one dated event:
- Wednesdays: Kauaʻi Culinary Market, 3:30 to 6 p.m., 2829 Ala Kalanikaumaka St., listed as reopened in the County's Oct. 16 update.
- Thursdays: Aloha Market at the Lāwaʻi Gardens Visitor Center, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
- Friday, Oct. 30: Trunk-or-Treat at The Shops at Kukuiʻula, which also lists Friday Kanikapila live music, Monday hula and Sunday yoga.
One South Shore service has wound down. The County scheduled the final service days for its hurricane resource center at the Kōloa Neighborhood Center, 3461B Weliweli Road, on Oct. 19 and 21. After Oct. 22, if you still need help with Lowell recovery, call 211 or go to KauaiRecovers.org.
Lawai Road has come back from ʻIwa and ʻIniki before, and the people rebuilding it this time include the hālau dancing on Thursdays and the volunteers resetting walls at Hoʻai Bay. If you have questions about the South Shore as it recovers, or you'd like to talk about what the changes along Lawai Road mean for a home you own here, Cheree Rapozo is happy to talk it through, neighbor to neighbor. E Komo Mai.
