[Rockhounds] It’s history: Observation tower removed from bluff in HVNP

[Kreigh Tomaszewski]

The landscape of Uekahuna bluff in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park has
forever changed with the demolition today of the Hawaiian Volcano
Observatory Tower.

The tower was the last of the earthquake-damaged buildings in the park to
be razed, and it was removed in less than one hour after standing on the
edge of Kaluapele, Kilauea’s caldera, for 76 years.
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The tower next to the Jaggar Museum provided scientists at the U.S.
Geological Survey’s HVO with a 360-degree vantage point for studying
Kilauea and Mauna Loa volcanoes until the 2018 Kilauea eruption and summit
collapse severely damaged all of the buildings at Uekahuna.

The tower demolition is part of the first phase in HVNP’s disaster recovery
plan, which included the removal of the Jaggar Museum earlier this year and
two buildings used by HVO, the Okamura Building and the geochemistry annex
at Uekahuna.

“It’s wild to see it all come down, especially the Jaggar Museum. It’s the
end of an era,” said HVNP spokeswoman Jessica Ferracane. “I feel like I
spent countless hours working, giving tours and bringing family and friends
there.”

The wahi pana, or storied place, of Uekahuna eventually will reopen to
Hawaiian cultural practitioners and visitors without buildings blocking the
view of Kaluapele and Halema‘uma‘u crater.

https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/07/26/hawaii-news/its-history-observation-tower-removed-from-bluff-in-hvnp/


https://www.nps.gov/havo/learn/management/jaggar-museum.htm