KAPA‘A — A frequent visitor to Ke Ala Hele Makalae, the multi-use path from Lydgate Beach Park to Ahihi Point, has fulfilled a longtime wish to restore its defaced signage.
Dave Haggland, of Kapa‘a, first noticed the path’s 24 interpretive signs — which tell the stories behind place names — were unintelligible five years ago, before he and wife Michelle became full-time islanders.
Sometime later, after becoming a permanent resident, Haggland began searching for a solution.
“I didn’t really know who to talk to,” Haggland told The Garden Island.
A friend suggested Haggland contact the 501(c)3 nonprofit Kaua‘i Path. Its executive director, Tommy Noyes, agreed to help when Haggland reached out in November 2020.
“Our purpose is to promote walking and bicycling for our population,” Noyes said in a recent interview. “Anything that we can do that makes the experience of being out on the multi-use path more pleasant, and leads to habitual use by as large a segment of the population as possible, is within our mandate.”
Kaua‘i Path, in turn, opened a dialogue with the county Department of Parks & Recreation.
Eager to get the ball rolling, the nonprofit prepared a budget when it learned the department had no in-progress plans to replace the signs marred by vandalism, sunlight and tropical damp, salt air.
Haggland also volunteered to install the new signs himself. His work kicked off in earnest after the county’s current fiscal year began in July, and the parks department released the funds needed to cover the signs’ $412 unit cost.
He started on Oct. 18 with help from Noyes and a new friend, Rob Nelson, of Wailua Homesteads.
Nelson is a longtime resident of the Hawaiian Islands, but just returned to Kaua‘i this past July. He and his wife, Holly, soon began walking Ke Ala Hele Makalae, where they encountered the Hagglands.
“Dave and I happened to become friends,” Nelson told The Garden Island. “He introduced me to the signs … I’m a latecomer to the party, but was happy to be part of that installation process.”
The new signs feature the same artwork as the originals but are made of more durable material. The manufacturer estimated they will last for at least 12 years, according to Haggland.
Their project was not without detours, detective work and at least one surprise.
The two men adjusted the signs in Haggland’s garage, and Haggland traced the tools needed to remove proprietary, tamper-proof bolts through a serial number.
Once loose, Nelson and Haggland found dirt, ants, geckos and the occasional centipede behind the damaged placards.
“We were very surprised when we opened one of the signs,” Nelson said in a Kaua‘i Path press release. “There, taped behind the placard, was a photo of a woman. She was in a nice dress, looked to be in her late 50s and seated for a portrait.
“On the back was an inscription saying her last wish was to visit Hawai‘i,” Nelson continued. “After she died, her family put her photo there facing the ocean so she could always see it.”
The two men carefully returned the photo to its resting place and installed the new sign over it.
Nelson and Haggland both reported a “warm, fuzzy feeling” associated with the project’s completion. According to Nelson, walkers-by would often express encouragement.
“Tourists would go, ‘This is fantastic,’ and homeless dudes would go, ‘This is fantastic,’” Nelson recalled to The Garden Island. “There’s a whole bunch of people that are living down there or living nearby. They’re there everyday and they would talk about how they would see graffiti on them and get upset about it … people noticed and they seem to care.”
The Kaua‘i parks department and Kaua‘i Path have each expressed gratitude for the other’s role in improving Ke Ala Hele Makalae.
But what happens when time takes its toll, and the signs need to be replaced yet again?
“I’m going to be here,” Haggland said. “I’m not going to let them get like they were before. I’ll see to that.”
Nelson will lend a hand again, too.
“I’m not going anywhere,” he promised. “I’m living the dream right now … we’re blessed.”
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Scott Yunker, reporter, can be reached at 245-0437 or syunker@thegardenisland.com.
