Demolition work will start later this month to remove one of Hawaii's most unique—and dangerous—attractions, the Haiku Stairs whose 3,922 steps climb high into narrow mountain ridges. The stairs have also been called the 'stairway to heaven.'
The stairs have been closed since 1987, and trespassers who are caught can be fined $1000, but that's failed to deter a stream of adventurous visitors who can only reach the stairs by trespassing on private property at the bottom and who have all too often had to be rescued by helicopter at a cost to the public in the thousands of dollars.
In a three-year period leading up to the resolution, police turned away over 11,000 people trying to reach the stairs from surrounding neighborhoods.
Honolulu City and County, the current owners of the stairs, unanimously passed a resolution for removal three years ago, but action has been delayed until now. The removal project is budgeted at $2.6 million.
The stairs, originally wooden, were built in 1943 by the U.S. Navy as access to a high-powered radio transmitter it built on top of the mountain with range to reach all Navy ships in the Pacific. Later, more advanced equipment was used there in the 1950s and 60s, and the wooden steps were replaced with steel.
Image: Hawai Foto/Wikimedia Commons
Comments (4)