An Oʻahu court is being asked to reverse a decision made by the State Historic Preservation Division backing plans by the City and County of Honolulu to demolish the Haʻikū Stairs.

The suit was filed in district court Thursday by the Friends of Haʻikū Stairs – a nonprofit that has lobbied for retaining all or part of the 80-year-old mountain path that rises more than 2,000 feet offering climbers spectacular views of the Windward Coast.

The city has been trying to dismantle the structure since 2021, but requires the agreement of the State Historic Preservation Division, a branch of the Department of Land and Natural Resources, under Hawaiʻi statutes. 

The filing asks the court to permanently halt the demolition, alleging that SHPD failed to require the city to “conduct adequate historic and archaeological surveys of the full project area,” and allowed the city to reject “a viable alternative to preserve the Stairs.”

SPHD had previously expressed a preference for preserving and restoring the structure in a 2019 letter to the city, according to the filing.

“SHPD’s preferred alternative would be to keep the Haʻikū Stairs and … and restore the damaged section of the stairs,” the letter read.

But on April 9, 2024, SHPD wrote to the city’s Department of Design and Construction that the demolition could proceed. The Friends of Haʻikū Stairs argue that SHPD’s April letter was deficient because it didn’t adequately explain why it abandoned its previous support for preservation. 

“We just think that SHPD’s rapid shift from preservation to demolition without explaining or doing any of the steps necessary under state law was fundamentally wrong and voids the whole process,” Justin Scorza, vice president of the Friends of Haʻikū Stairs, said on Monday. 

The group had first appealed the letter April 12 with the Hawaiʻi Historic Places Review Board, but the board lacked a quorum to rule on the legality of the letter, Scorza said. 

DLNR spokesman Dan Dennison said Monday he would not comment on pending litigation. 

City spokesman Ian Scheuring said the city was confident the Circuit Court does not have jurisdiction over the case and expected the lawsuit to be dismissed.

Demolition Already On Hold Pending Appeal

The lawsuit is the latest installment in the legal maneuvering around Honolulu’’s efforts to demolish the stairs citing safety concerns, liability and security costs.

Built during World War II as part of a top-secret naval radio project, the nearly 4,000 stairs remained an off-limits destination for hikers despite being closed in 1987.

In 2019, former Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell had briefly floated the idea that the county’s Department of Parks and Recreation take over the stairs and develop a managed access plan, including addressing traffic jams at the trail’s residential access point. 

But an environmental impact statement in 2020 by the Honolulu Board of Water Supply recommended demolishing the stairs, and the formal decision was made by the Honolulu City Council and Mayor Rick Blangiardi in September 2021.  

The demolition was meant to take six months and cost $2.6 million but in August 2023 Friends of Haʻikū Stairs asked a court to halt the plan, arguing that the Board of Water Supply’s environmental impact statement was out of date. 

Friends of Haʻikū Stairs lost that decision, but nevertheless, a temporary injunction was placed on the project in June last year, pending a decision by the Intermediate Court of Appeals on whether the lower court erred in its finding.

Honolulu filed for an expedited appeal decision in February, saying it had spent nearly $2 million on police overtime to guard the steps from June to December last year. Over 120 arrests for trespass were made during that time, according to the city.

Although there have been no reported deaths on the stairs, emergency workers rescued nearly 200 hikers from the trail from 2010 to 2022, the city said.

Read the full lawsuit below.