Department of Land and Natural Resources

JOSH GREEN, M.D. GOVERNOR

RYAN K.P. KANAKAʻOLE CHAIRPERSON

NEW COMFORT STATION AT HĀ‘ENA STATE PARK A COMMUNITY-LED EFFORT

HĀ‘ENA, Kauaʻi – Relief has arrived for visitors to Hā‘ena State Park in the form of a new comfort station at the entrance parking lot.

A recent blessing commemorated the community-led effort by Hui Makaʻāinana o Makana (Hui) and its nonprofit partner The Hanalei Initiative, in the funding and construction of the comfort station and accompanying septic system.

“This project is a first for Hawaiʻi with design, planning and financing by a nonprofit community group to improve a state park,” said Alan Carpenter, administrator for the   DLNR Division of State Parks (DSP). “We have caring partners who fully commit to stewarding this area and preserving it for the greater Hā‘ena community.”

The Hui, a community-based organization formed in 1998 by lineal descendants of Hāʻena, has a mission to restore the traditional practices and protect the natural and cultural resources within Hā‘ena State Park. This includes safeguarding two historical home sites, ancient graves, lo‘i and the former poi mill on the park grounds.

“The Hui and Hanalei Initiative have been operating Hā‘ena’s parking and shuttle system since 2020. They are well-versed in the volume of daily traffic to the park and understood the call from the community for more facilities. Years of planning and saving went into making this project a reality,” Carpenter noted.

The new comfort station provides residents and visitors with access to facilities at the point of arrival, before entering the park’s sensitive cultural landscape. Previously, the only restroom at the popular park was a five- to 10-minute walk from the parking lot.

While the older comfort station will continue to service present park capacity, it sits in an environmentally and culturally sensitive location. The new facility will reduce use and wastewater treatment in that area.

The new build was also designed with sensitivity and sustainability in mind, including utilizing moss rock materials that were already on-site, as well as solar powered aerobic and ultraviolet (UV) treatment to remove nutrients and disperse cleaner effluent into a less sensitive location.

The blessing ceremony marked the transfer in ownership of the new comfort station to DSP. DSP hopes this project serves as a model for sustainable facility upgrades at other parks in the future.

Carpenter added, “Collaborating with the community in this way creates lasting bonds tied to some of our favorite natural spaces. This project was a first — and hopefully the first of many. We continue to seek partnership opportunities with additional community groups to co-manage parks and other wahi pana (storied places) around the state.”

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RESOURCES
(All images/video courtesy: DLNR)

Photographs – Hāʻena Comfort Station Transfer and Blessing (June 9, 2026):
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/6heuleos8t6zexgu605n3/ALFXpNTHbGmpPR0MSpDO91g?rlkey=h3p8hk2nulb08hpmmi4j9om0x&st=4540ta0k&dl=0

 

Media contact:

Ryan Aguilar

Communications Specialist

State of Hawaiʻi Department of Land and Natural Resources

E-mail: [email protected]