New life returns to Keawaiki Park with native planting effort
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The three Lahaina Rotary Clubs, Treecovery and the Lahaina Restoration Foundation recently replanted native trees, ground cover and vines at Keawaiki Park as part of ongoing efforts to restore Lahaina's historic waterfront following the August 2023 wildfire.
The planting took place Dec. 6 at the small park fronting Lahaina Harbor, which features two shade trellises, a flagpole and benches on brick paving. Volunteers planted coastal sandalwood and two Queen kukui nut trees, along with ʻaiʻai as ground cover, and trained pōhuehue vines along the trellis structures.
Aiʻai native ground cover plants sit ready for planting at Keawaiki Park. Photo Courtesy Lahaina Restoration Foundation
Lahaina Restoration Foundation Executive Director Theo Morrison said Keawaiki Park was heavily damaged by the fire, even though parts of the site remained standing.
"Although the courthouse burned in the August 2023 fire, as did the boats in the harbor, the wooden trellis structure at Keawaiki Park was spared. However, all the plants and trees at the park burned," Morrison said in a news release. "It is wonderful to see new life come back to the park."
The replanting effort is part of the larger Lahaina Harbor Front Improvement Project, an initiative that began in 2012 to enhance public spaces along the historic waterfront.
Keawaiki Park was completed and opened to the public in 2017.
Uli Kirkegaard and Sylvia Johnson of the Rotary Club of Lahaina Sunrise plant native trees at Keawaiki Park on Dec. 6. Photo courtesy Lahaina Restoration Foundation