PRESS RELEASE
OFFICE OF MAYOR KIRK CALDWELL
DEPARTMENT OF DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION
HONOLULU POLICE DEPARTMENT
CITY & COUNTY OF HONOLULU
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, March 18, 2016
Press Office: (808) 768-5768 (cell: 489-0341)
**Monday**
Media tour of new Wai‘anae Police Station
Wai‘anae – A media tour of the newly constructed District-level Wai‘anae Police Station took place on Monday, March 21, 2016 at 11 a.m. on location at 85-939 Farrington Hwy. Construction was completed on March 11 and the station is scheduled to open for police operations on May 20. The Honolulu Police Department is currently in the process of moving in desks, phones, copy machines, and additional infrastructure to support daily operations.
Speakers included Mayor Kirk Caldwell, Councilmember Kymberly Pine, HPD Major Kurt Kendro, Design and Construction Deputy Director Mark Yonamine, and a representative from city contractor T. Iida Contracting.
In addition, Mayor’s Office of Culture and the Arts Executive Director Misty Kela‘i and Registrar Tory Laitila discussed the commissioning of a large fresco, frieze, mosaic, mural, sculpture or other wall-mounted work on the exterior of the police station facing Farrington Highway. The artist will be selected in May.
The new District-level police station is much larger than the former Wai‘anae substation that existed on the same site and was torn down in 2014. The new station will enable faster police response times and improved services to leeward coast residents, who will no longer have to go to the Kapolei Police Station for assistance. The new station will also have a full service receiving desk.
“Wai‘anae residents are thrilled to have a new police station and more police officers serving the area,” said Councilmember Kymberly Pine, who represents the Leeward Coast. “This ensures improved safety for all leeward residents.”
“This creates a positive influence on our community,” added Mākaha resident John DeSoto. “We live along the most beautiful coastline in Hawai‘i and now we can teach our keiki that Wai‘anae is a safe and positive place to be proud of.”
“This is the police station upgrade that leeward residents deserve, with a modern District-level station right in the heart of Wai‘anae,” said Mayor Caldwell.
The contractor demolished the old substation, built in 1961 at 7,000 square feet, and built the new modern district station at 25,172 square feet. The new station has 14 holding cells, compared to 3 at the former substation. The new station includes gas pumps for police vehicles and a radio antenna tower. The second floor contains space for future expansion.
When the station opens on May 20, it will also mean more parking for Poka‘i Bay Beach Park users. The new police station has 63 parking stalls, including 22 which will be available for beachgoers.
The new station mālama ka ‘āina, cares for the land, with a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.
The Department of Design and Construction hired T. Iida Contractors for construction, Architects Hawaii for design, and Bill Chang Architect for planning. The total project cost was $16,397,972.
The new exterior artwork will go on the Farrington Highway side of the station between the first and second floors, and will be up to 65 feet wide and 5 feet high. The project is budgeted for $70,000 and calls for an artwork that tells the story of Wai‘anae.
