KAILUA-KONA — What once provided a cover from the sun, might become a bench instead.
A towering 64-foot-tall kiawe with a broad canopy that shaded the northern end of the parking lot in Laaloa Park is gone, removed after an arborist’s study found an “imminent risk of failure” that could cause the tree to fall.
The tree probably would fall to the north, a report by Mark L. O’Dell of Arborist Services LLC stated, a likely danger to cars parked in those stalls and sending branches onto Alii Drive.
So, the idyllic spot to escape the summer’s rays is no more.
Tommy Mattos, maintenance supervisor for the park, told the company in August that his staff saw large cracks in the trunk of the tree, raising concerns about the safety of visitors and traffic on Alii Drive.
On Aug. 27, O’Dell went to inspect the tree, which had a crotch 12 feet from the ground, where two main leaders head to the north and south. O’Dell reported he found two cracks in the trunk. The one on the north side ran 6 inches below the crotch and went down 6 feet. The southern one started at the crotch and went all the way down.
He also found a crack in the north leader starting at 9 feet from the ground and going up 7 feet. The cracking was a result of a severed root and uneven growth in the canopy.
As a result, the parking lot recently closed as workers used a crane and cherry pickers to safely bring down the kiawe.
The tree is bound for Waimea, where Kamuela Hardwoods, a company that specializes in “urban salvage,” will work to use as much as possible.
Alex Woodbury of the company watched the removal.
Turning the tree into lumber is complicated by kiawe’s twisting growth patterns, he said, which leads to inclusions and warpings not seen in straight-grained wood.
“It depends on how much character an artist is willing to work with,” Woodbury said.
The cracks in the tree might require the company to cut the trunks into rounds, he said. Hopefully, there will be enough to make slabs.
He lived in the area for years, going to Magic Sands regularly and remembers the tree.
The parks department is working on more conversions in the park, and Woodbury hopes to return the tree as benches.
“We just hope we can pay proper homage to this tree,” he said.
Email Graham Milldrum at gmilldrum@westhawaiitoday.com.
