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Last Sunday afternoon, I was at a performance of "Nutcracker Sweets" put on by Momentum Dance Maui at the Historic Iao Theater. The performers, costumes and dancing were beautiful, and I had a very enjoyable time.
However, I also saw something there that was very disturbing. During the afternoon rainstorm, I could see water running down one of the side walls and theater staff was placing towels and buckets on the floor to absorb the water.
I talked to some of the staff after the performance and learned that there are several other leaks in the roof, and that they would be going into the attic before the evening performance to empty the buckets that they had placed to catch the water.
The leak at the side wall is most concerning because it is causing the steel rebar in the concrete wall to rust, which causes the concrete to crack and more leakage and rusting to occur. If not repaired properly, the wall will continue to deteriorate and eventually the wall and the roof could collapse.
Iao Theater is owned by the county. I hope the new administration and County Council will appropriate enough money in the upcoming budget to completely repair this problem before we lose the theater and the many cultural benefits it brings to our community.
Bob Offermann
Wailuku