In recent years, two fires destroyed the surfboard storage lockers in Waikiki. The back to back blazes caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage and left residents without a place to store their boards. A replacement solution has been slow to come, but a new proposal could be a light at the end of the tunnel.
The first fire was in February of 2020. The blaze quickly consumed the racks and forced the evacuation of the neighboring Moana Surfrider Hotel. Shortly afterwards, police confirmed an arson investigation was underway. They released a video showing a young man leaving the scene with a towel around his neck, carrying a clear plastic bottle, but the culprit wouldn’t be found for another year.
After the city of Waikiki repaired the damage and reopened the facility in August, the racks were promptly set on fire again. The blaze once again forced the evacuation of the Moana Surfrider Hotel and the Honolulu Police Department substation. However, this time police were able to capture the arsonist: Glenn A. Helton.
Helton was arrested and later sentenced to 10 years behind bars for the surfboard fires, as well as 10 years on an unrelated robbery charge and five years on an unrelated arson charge. It was decided that he would serve the sentences concurrently as part of a plea agreement. As restitution, Helton was ordered to pay $414,000 to the City and County of Honolulu.
Though the cause of the fires had been discovered, the surfers of Waikiki were still left without public surfboard storage. However, relief may be on the way. As KITV reports, the Honolulu Department of Parks and Recreation proposed a budget request of $460,000 at a Honolulu City Council Meeting Wednesday. The purpose of the funds would be to plan, design, and build replacement surfboard lockers in the same area as the previous structures: between Kuhio Beach and Kalakaua Ave.
The proposal could be approved as soon as June. However, once that happens, it is still unclear how soon it would be until the new surfboard storage in Waikiki is actually available.
