Myths vs. Facts Debunking the myths about Haʻikū Stairs – “Stairway to Heaven” The Haʻikū Stairs is an historic treasure with great potential for recreation, education, history, and even Hawaiian culture. Since its closure by the Coast Guard in 1987, the stairway changed owners, received a $950,000 restoration but remains closed to the public. Myth: The stairs will be expensive to repair. Fact: The stairs were expensive to repair, and most of that has already been spent. During the administration of Mayor Harris, the City spent $950,000 to refurbish the then deteriorated structure with the intent of reopening it to the public. Since that restoration, the Friends of Haʻikū Stairs has worked with the city to maintain the stairs. Myth: The stairs are dangerous. Fact: Tens of thousands of hikers have climbed the Stairs with no reported serious injuries—despite the fact that timing most of the climbs being made since 2003 have started in the dark to beat the security guard to base of the stairs. Myth: There is too much liability in case of injury to climbers. Fact: With more than a hundred climbers per week, the City is already subject to liability claims. Myth: Keeping the stairs closed results in fewer emergency calls and resulting risks to emergency personnel. Fact A: Allowed or not, people are climbing now—unsupervised and under more dangerous conditions than during daylight hours. Fact B: The only two recues to hikers related to the stairs have in the last year. One rescue was by hikers who left from Moanalua Valley and were looking for the stairs and not actually on the stairs. Both rescues were, incidentally, by visitors to O‘ahu who most likely would have benefitted from some kind of educational introduction only possible if the stairs are opened and managed. As cell phone use increases, the likelihood of the illegal hikers calling for emergency aid will increase—particularly if there are no other solutions for education and assistance in place. Myth: The financial burden of managing the Stairs is too great. Fact: The City has a financial burden now. The cost of maintaining the only partially effective security guards is an estimated $70,000 per year. There is good reason to believe that were the Stairs open under an effective management program, cost to the City would be lessened. Myth: The best solution to the problem is to tear the stairs out. Fact: The suggestion to tear out the structure is impractical. In addition to the abatement requirements for demolishing such a large structure that is eligible for the National Register of Historic Places, the loss of a hugely popular and valuable hiking asset, the likelihood of a required and lengthy environmental impact study, and the legal actions that would almost certainly follow, would make tearing out the stairs the most lengthy and arduous solution. The cost of this solution is also more expensive than other solutions. Cost of removing the structure was estimated at between $2,500,000 and $3,000,000. The cost of the lesser sum calculated at 5% per annum would saddle the City with a long-term cost of something on the order of $125,000 per year. Myth: Neighbors do not support opening the Stairs. Fact: The majority of neighbors support solutions to stop the hikers from parking and accessing the stairs in the middle of the night in front of their homes. Myth: The reopening would increase the negative effects to the nearby homes. Fact: The Stairs and trailhead are hundreds of yards from the nearest home. Myth: Reopening the Stairs will increase trespassing. Fact: It is only the illegal hikers who affect the neighborhood and they are there precisely because there is no legal access. If reopening plans include access and parking, hikers would not need, nor want, to park hundreds of yards away in the neighborhoods. They would also not need to go through the streets at irregular hours. Background How did we get here? Two events created the problem in 2003–2004 that continues today: One: After spending several thousand dollars creating a gate and entrance from the Hope Chapel property onto the H3 construction access road leading to the trailhead, the City found they made their agreements with the wrong parties, and they had to cancel their access and parking plan. Two: The enormous popularity of the Haʻikū Stairs meant huge publicity during the restoration. TV, radio, newspapers posted multiple comments, stories, interviews and pictures, making it clear to the hiking public that the Stairs were repaired and safe to climb. Unfortunately, some members of the hiking public were not willing to wait for a legal opening and began hiking through nearby neighborhoods to gain access to the trailhead. This annoyance to the community created a very strong anti-Haʻikū Stairs attitude among many of the residents, who began a strong campaign to prevent an opening and even an effort to have the Stairs dismantled. Security guards were hired and were successful in reducing the huge numbers of trespassers, but in recent years, the number remains fairly steady at a reported 100–150 climbers a week during good weather. Friends of Haiku Stairs Protecting historic Haiku Stairs and its environment for future generations Subscribe to Stairway News Email Address* First Name Last Name * = required field Friends of Haiku Stairs P.O. Box 4715 Kaneohe, HI 96744 [email protected] Copyright © 2014 Friends of Haiku Stairs (Stairway to Heaven). Return to top
Posted on: Sun, 24 Aug 2014 08:16:56 +0000
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