Maunakea Milestone: Removal of UH Hilo’s Hōkū Keʻa Observatory is completed, site fully restored
Decommissioning of the observatory was completed in May 2024; the area will be monitored over the next three years to assess species population and diversity.
The first observatory on the summit of Maunakea has been completely removed and the site restored, an historic milestone on the summit. The decommissioning of the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo Hōkū Keʻa Observatory was completed in May 2024, and the area will be monitored over the next three years to assess species population and diversity.
“Maunakea warrants the highest levels of stewardship, and we remain steadfast in our collaborative efforts to honor and protect the cultural and environmental significance of this ʻāina,” says UH Hilo Chancellor Bonnie Irwin. “The removal of Hōkū Keʻa reflects the university’s ongoing pledge to reduce the presence of telescopes on Maunakea.”
Once the decommissioning of the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory (CSO) is completed later this year, UH will have honored the commitment made to the UH Board of Regents in 2023 to remove two telescopes before the Maunakea Stewardship and Oversight Authority assumes full management of the summit lands by July 1, 2028. The UH Hilo Center for Maunakea Stewardship jointly manages Maunakea with MKSOA and is overseeing both decommissioning projects.
Located on the southeastern slope of the summit, the Hōkū Keʻa Observatory served as a cornerstone in training UH astronomy students for decades. It was built by the U.S. Air Force in 1968 and was one of the first observatories on Maunakea before it was given to UH in 1970 and transferred to UH Hilo in 2003.
“The process to remove Hōkū Keʻa and Caltech Submillimeter Observatory is being done in a way that is pono to this special place”
The decommissioning work began in April 2024 and cost of approximately $1 million. The deconstruction of two buildings and the associated infrastructure and site restoration were done in accordance with the decommissioning process required by the Mauna Kea Comprehensive Management Plan.
“The process to remove Hōkū Keʻa and CSO is being done in a way that is pono to this special place as the construction crews received training on Maunakea’s history, cultural significance, environmental and cultural resources, and health and safety,” says Greg Chun, director of UH Hilo Center for Maunakea Stewardship. “A ceremony was conducted prior to the deconstruction phase and will be conducted again at the project’s conclusion and restoration phase.”
Prayers and Native Hawaiian protocol opened and closed each work day. Hawaiʻi Island resident Karl Halemano oversaw both construction and cultural monitoring on site throughout the decommissioning. Morning protocol led by Halemano included E Ala Ē, a chant that welcomes the day.
“We would go up to the site and we would have a pule, oli mele or just oli and we would start our day so that way we can move forward with a sense of spirituality, the importance of the work we’re doing up there,” Halemano said.
It took six dump trucks and nine trailer loads to remove the debris after the structures were taken down. Fill that had been stored at the summit from when the observatories were first built was used for the site restoration.
Read full story at UH System News.
