The groundbreaking ceremony for the new Maui Annex was held last week Monday. The project construction cost is $7,875,000 and will take one to two years to construct, starting in early 2017.

WAILUKU – A groundbreaking ceremony on Dec. 12 at the Maui Annex state building at 130 Mahalani St. is preparing the way for demolition of the 57-year-old building and construction starting in early 2017 of a new 7,000-square-foot building on the one-acre state parcel that has housed four divisions of the Department of Land and Natural Resources.

Construction of the new DLNR Maui Office Annex building will provide the DLNR personnel of the Divisions of Aquatic Resources (DAR), State Historic Preservation (SHPD), Land and Engineering offices with an updated facility that is designed to efficiently use the space within the triangular lot.

Pending completion of the new one-story building, the aquatic resources, historic preservation and engineering offices have temporarily relocated to the Maalaea Small Boat Harbor building, where they opened for normal service beginning Dec. 12 in the first floor portion of the Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation office building at 101 Maalaea Boat Harbor Road. Parking is available on the harbor property.

Phone numbers will remain the same: 243-5294 for DAR, 243-5641 for SHPD and 243-5187 for Engineering. Mail for these offices should be sent to 101 Maalaea Boat Harbor Road, Wailuku, HI 96793.

“Construction of the new building will provide improved functionality, infrastructure, storage, security, and better meet future operational needs,” said Suzanne Case, DLNR chairperson.

“The new building and site layout will also provide a larger paved parking area for the public and DLNR staff, and easier access to the divisions.”

The new building will be larger than the previous building to accommodate the additional personnel that will be hired by DAR and SHPD, and the addition of the Maui Land Division staff.

Utility improvements on Mahalani Street adjacent to the property are also part of the site improvements.

The new building will incorporate an energy-efficient design that includes building shading, increased ambient lighting and a photovoltaic system to lower operational cost.

The redesigned conference room will be larger and have video conferencing capabilities that will provide improved communications between other DLNR offices throughout the state.

An outdated septic system will be replaced with a modern system that will be connected to the county municipal sewer system, which is better for the environment.

The design consultant firm for this project is The Limtiaco Consulting Group and the contractor is Maui Kupono Builders LLC.