Ken Kroehler, a 73-year-old blogger who has lived in Hawaii for 34 years, has fond memories of enjoying panoramic views of Honolulu Harbor from the lofty 10th-floor observation deck of the Aloha Tower, but he fears other visitors may never have that chance.
As the decommissioned lighthouse approaches its 100th anniversary in 2026, Kroehler is pushing for the state Department of Transportation’s Ports Division to reopen the iconic observation deck, which was closed to the public during the Covid-19 pandemic due to social distancing guidelines.
“The Aloha Tower used to receive and welcome visitors from all over the world,” Kroehler said. “I want others to close their eyes up there and imagine the old hustle and bustle down on the piers.”
However, the Ministry of Transport cannot say when the observation deck will be reopened to the public.
The agency is seeking bids to repair the elevator to the observation deck and is offering a $2.3 million contract to replace the tower’s fire suppression system, says DOT spokeswoman Shelly Kunishige. And that’s not all.
The department is seeking federal funds to cover the cost of necessary renovations to the observation deck itself and the exterior of the tower. The deck will remain closed until those renovations are completed, Kunishige said. But she did not specify when the structural problems were discovered or what work needs to be done to fix them.
Work is scheduled to begin this fall. All floors of the tower will be closed during construction. Hawaii Pacific University, the state’s largest private university, leases the Aloha Tower Marketplace and has student housing on the second and third floors.
For some HPU faculty members, the need for renovations was news. History professor Douglas Askman, who wrote about the tower’s history for the university’s website, was unaware that the observation deck needed renovations. The last he heard, the overlook was closed during the pandemic.
“I’m not sure what’s causing the delay,” he said.
He hopes the Department of Transportation’s renovation and construction projects will be completed by the tower’s centennial in two years. He says the observation deck has been the main attraction to draw visitors to the retail shops and restaurants in the Aloha Tower Marketplace, which is still recovering from the economic impact of the pandemic.
When Gov. David Ige imposed a stay-at-home order in 2020, in-person classes at HPU were suspended and nonessential businesses on the lower levels of the marketplace were closed. This led to a sharp decline in rental and parking revenue for HPU, according to a report by the Aloha Tower Development Corp., a quasi-independent state agency that manages the property.
“My personal interest is to get the tower up and running,” Kroehler said. “I think the Aloha Tower Marketplace would appreciate it. It would attract more traffic. It’s a win-win situation.”
