The staff of the Kaua’i Police Department, the Kaua’i Civil Defense Agency and the Kaua’i County Prosecutor’s Office are poised to move into their new home – a multi-million two-story headquarters off Kapule Highway.
The relocation of the agencies into the new facility was being coordinated and planned or being done in parts even as construction work was being done Friday.
“There are finishing touches on the interior, finish work, and moving furniture and office equipment,” said Jenny Fujita, public information officer for Mayor Maryanne Kusaka’s administration.
The building, which consists of about 60,000 square feet, is located on about 7 acres.
Shioi Construction Inc. was the main contractor for the work, which started in early 2001, county officials said.
The projected costs for the project reportedly ranged from $12 to $18 million.
The county prosecutor’s office is scheduled to move into the new building between Oct. 15 -18. But some items from the office had already been moved to the new building by Friday.
A second-story suite will be the new home for 29 staffers, including nine prosecutors, a law clerk, victim witness counselors, legal clerks and two investigators.
The prosecutor’s office has occupied four portables by the Kaua’i War Memorial Convention Hall for the past 20 years.
Meanwhile, the Kaua’i Civil Defense Agency is scheduled to make the move on Oct. 14.
Civil defense administrator Mark Marshall and his two staffers, Clifford Ikeda and Karleen Abalos, will be moving into a new office that is little more than twice the size of the current civil defense office, located in the basement of the historic County Building.
The new building is between 4,000 to 5,000 square feet compared to the existing 2,000-square-foot civil defense facility.
The old office will serve as a backup station for the county’s dispatch office.
The last to move into the new facility, the Kaua’i police department is scheduled to start moving on Oct. 22 and will wrap up the move by the end of November, according to acting assistant chief Miles Tanabe.
“There is going to be a bit of moving (hence the long move-in period),” Tanabe said.
Original plans called for the police to occupy 45,000 square feet of the building, which also is expected to house an exercise area for police officers, lockers and showers.
The building also will be fitted with a modern telecommunications system and a special security system. Parking for the agencies and the public also will be available.
The impetus for the project came in the late 1980s, when then-Kaua’i police chief Cal Fujita, called for a new police facility, contending the old police station in Lihu’e was outdated and small.
The existing police station is expected to be converted into office spaces for state agencies.
Staff writer Lester Chang can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) and mailto:lchang@pulitzer.net
