LIHU‘E — The sudden, early Wednesday morning removal of Pine Tree Inn is being received with mixed emotions depending on who you ask in the community.
The Kaua‘i Police Department dismantled the long-standing wooden shelter at Nawiliwili Park because it was unpermitted.
“Our primary concern is for the safety of our citizens and visitors and I feel that crime prevention through environmental design with the removal of this structure will make for a safer community,” KPD Chief Darryl Perry said in a press release.
For the past three years, Perry said that more than 40 investigations were conducted at the Pine Tree Inn site, which turned up illegal drugs and gambling, nuisance complaints, harassment, family abuse, delinquent minors, and crimes of violence related to assaults and fights which resulted in the arrest of 11 people.
Nearby businesses have expressed safety concerns and are fearful for their customers and employees because of blatant and continuous criminal activity both day and night, the chief said. Recent incidents in the area include violent assaults and armed robberies.
The feelings from employees at the adjacent mall were mixed Wednesday afternoon. Most agreed with Perry, saying that especially later in the day the activity around the structure became more suspect.
The manager of Honolua Surf Co. said the people congregating during the day were elders, who do not create any problems. He said the problems were with the younger crowd at night.
Two staffers at a gift shop spoke of concerns about extreme violence and coming to work to see the destruction and blood. They recalled one night when a ship’s employee was jumped by three locals and pushed right through their back door.
The pair said the Pine Tree Inn does have its share of illegal activity and that it is more noticeable after 6 p.m. Their main concern is local business impact and that the cruise ships view Kaua‘i as a problem spot for their employees and could just as easily make Nawiliwili a day stop and do the Thursday overnight at O‘ahu.
Another mall employee, Trenton McClary, said crime is an issue, but is unsure if removing the structure will have an impact. He considered Pine Tree Inn an eyesore that blocked the view of the beach from the stores. The customers, he said, are “people spending $10,000 on a vacation and $1,000 for a helicopter ride.”
“It was ugly, and it was on public property,” he said.
By mid-afternoon there was a crowd of regulars at the site who were livid about the removal of Pine Tree Inn — especially the manner in which it was done. The conversation was about growing up at the site and about repairing it after the hurricanes.
The group said the troublemakers didn’t bother the old-timers during the day and that they didn’t believe the trouble at night was connected to the structure.
Bill Curammeng, a retired teacher, considered Pine Tree Inn of cultural, if not historical, importance. He said it was there before the hotels and the shopping area.
“It was our stomping ground,” said Curammeng, now 78. “They took a picnic table with a plaque that was donated by the Lions Club. We paid for that.”
Two young men, Peter Bierly and Keahi Benzon, said they enjoy going there in the afternoon and meeting with the crowd. Now that the roof is gone they feel something is missing and would like to have had a say in the matter.
“It means everything,” Benzon said.
Ray Fajardo, a retired local resident, said he can remember coming to the spot almost daily for decades. He said it was a safe place, bolted back into place following Hurricane Iniki in 1992. He pointed out the spot where the tree had grown around the now-missing structure.
Early Wednesday morning Helen Hanohano said she got a call from her son that the Kaua‘i Police Department had the Nawiliwili Park road blocked off and that a city truck was removing Pine Tree Inn. Recently retired, she has been visiting the place daily since she stopped working.
Hanohano said the people on the cruise ships also visit the spot and she can recall the days before picnic tables when they used wooden cable reels from the telephone company turned on their sides.
Other locals thought the county had no business on that side of the path and considered the area near the beach to be under the control of the Army Corps of Engineers. Others said if the county is really concerned about health and safety and crime then they would clean up or remove the nearby outdoor restroom facility.
By late afternoon the group had carried back a few of the picnic tables under the trees. They said it was to keep a closer eye on the kids swimming in the relatively calm waters near where the stream feeds into the bay.
Other recent police reports in the Nawiliwili area include the assault and robbery of a visitor of his wallet in April; a fight in July involving an estimated 20 males whereby a 33-year-old man suffered a dislocated jaw and others sustain numerous injuries; another visitor was allegedly robbed at gunpoint; and on July 21, John Krause was arrested for robbery of a male visitor.
