Haiku Stairs: Off-limits Hawaii attraction to be removed in coming months

HONOLULU ( KHON ) – An unofficial tourist attracted on the island of Oahu will be torn down at the end of April, officials in Hawaii confirmed last week.

The Haiku (Haʻikū) Stairs, sometimes called the Stairway to Heaven, were first installed in the mountains of Oahu by the U.S. military during World War II. They became a popular destination for hikers in the decades after the war, but were eventually closed off to the public in 1987 amid concerns over vandalism, liability and safety.

Hawaii officials also attributed a 1981 episode of “Magnum P.I.” with drawing attention to the trail and prompting increased visitation. At one point before closing to the public, the stairs attracted an average of 20,000 visitors per year, according to the Hawaii state senate.

Even decades later, Senate officials acknowledged that closing the stairs hadn’t deterred the public from trespassing at the site “for sweeping views of Oahu.”

Officials in Honolulu County have also indicated that protecting and securing the watershed area — on which the stairs are located — costs an estimated $250,000 annually.

Plans to remove the stairs have been proposed throughout the years. But at the end of April, a contractor hired by the county will finally follow through.

Mayor Rick Blangiardi said the decision to remove the stairs was not an easy one, but it was made in the interest of nearby residents like David Kitabayashi.

“All these people trespassing for years and years, and these people are rude,” Kitabayashi said.

City Councilwoman Esther Kiaaina added that the removal of the stairs will restore the beauty of the scenery.

“This is a manmade contraption on a natural valley,” said Kiaaina. “Restoring the valley and providing a natural setting so that people could remember what Haʻikū valley was.”

The project, estimated to cost $2.6 million, was also the subject of a lawsuit filed last year. The case was dismissed earlier this month, but the group behind the complaint has discussed filing an appeal.

A spokesperson with Mayor Blangiardi’s office told Nexstar’s KHON there is no current legal proceeding that stops the city from moving forward with removing the stairs.

The Nakoa Companies, which has been contracted to complete the work, will begin removing the stair modules at the end of April, officials said. Work will consist of removing 664 of these modules, which will be carried down the mountain via helicopter and disassembled on the ground, according to a press release from the City and County of Honolulu.

Teams will also perform landscaping and replace plants that were damaged in the process to allow the vegetation to grow over the area.

“This decision that was made was predicated upon our respect for the people who live in and around the entrance to the stairs, our respect for our ʻāina, and our respect for both the future and the past history of the culture of the Haʻikū community,” Blangiardi said in a statement issued last week.

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