WAILUA — By now, you’ve driven by it over and over again that Wailua segment of the Ke Ala hele Makalae path, where the work is still going on. There’s that new decorative wall that separates traffic from pedestrians.
Perhaps you’ve noticed, when you’re stuck in traffic on Kuhio Highway, or perhaps not. Either way, take a look. A good look. You’ll see a turtle, a fish, an octopus, all marine life, about every 30 feet or so, etched into that wall.
Looks good. Great, even. Highway art done right on the island of Kaua‘i.
That artwork was courtesy of Spencer Masonry.
“They take a little extra time to put in. We never budgeted in any extra, this is a complete Spencer Masonry donation,” said Jordan Berg, vice president of Spencer Masonry.
The company based in Kilauea gave the greenlight to two talented artists on staff, Keith Duffy and Peter Berg, Jordan’s brother, to create the hand-carved art. The wall runs about 1,000 feet, which comes out to about 30 or 40 carvings on each side, for pedestrians — once the walkway opens, expected to be about six weeks – and passing cars — which are pretty much always there.
Figure each one took about 20 minutes, and that’s a lot of time and talent. No problem, says Berg, a graduate of Kamehameha Schools who earned a business degree before going into the masonry field. Past projects for Spencer Masonry range from private residences to county, state and federal government contracts.
When he’s not working, the Moloka‘i native enjoys fishing of surfing.
“It’s just to give the people something to look at,” he said as he walked along the pathway next to the wall this week. “We’re not looking to get more work out of it or anything. It’s something nice to look at when you’re stuck in traffic over here in the morning.”
The stucco finish depicts a variety of marine life. There’s a reef shark, crab, needlefish, mahi-mahi chasing a flying fish, and one of Berg’s favorites, the surfer. Berg glances over the decorated wall and smiles. It’s more than just a pretty wall.
“It keeps the cars from hitting the pedestrians,” he said.
Where did the idea for artwork on the
wall come from?
It started on the Kilauea Bridge. We put a turtle in over there, and the inspectors liked it. That was very inconspicuous in the rock. You almost never see it unless somebody says, ‘Check that turtle out.’ Anyway, they said we should put something in over there. We’re just making it standout. We put them out there so everybody can see them.
Did it take long?
They take a little extra time to put in. We never budgeted in any extra, this is a complete Spencer Masonry donation.
Was the artwork planned from the beginning of this project?
Not at all. We were going to put in a few here and there. You can see we started to get a little more detailed as we went along. It gets you to kind of look for them. Somebody riding a bike will all the sudden go, ‘Hey, there’s a shark.’
What was the process
of deciding what to showcase?
It was completely up to us. It’s not spected in the requirements at all. They left it up to us to make it a little nicer for the public.
And I’m blessed with a couple artists on the crew who have the talent to draw in some fish. They could actually put anything in there you wanted, but we tried to stick with the marine theme.
How difficult was this
to do so it lasts and doesn’t crumble.
It’s a special lightweight mix. With traditional concrete, if you come out too much it will crack on the wall. So this one is a blend of special polymers.
How about the theme
of marine life? Anything special there?
We’d go home at nights and play with some drawings at home, or somebody would say you guys should put in an octopus and we’d go, ‘Oh, that’s a great idea.’
We try to stick with the fish people would catch out there.
How did you get into this line of work?
My dad was a general contractor and I married a masonry contractor’s daughter.
My father-in-law, Jim Spencer, started the company in 1983. I worked for him four years and when he retired I took over in 2006.
How is business these days? How are things looking this summer?
Busy. We have several projects lined up.
Are you all fishermen?
All of our passion is deep sea fishing. We’re out there catching tuna.
What do you think now that’s it’s done?
You know, it’s funny. On this one, I just stayed out of the way and the guys did it all. I wrote the paychecks on this one. I’m always about budget. We have to get so many square feet a day. And the art slows it down a little bit. But this came out nice. It gives you something to look at when you’re stuck here on Saturday afternoon.
