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Keauhou Holua Slide

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21-515: Kāneaka Hōlua Slide which is better known today as the Keauhou Hōlua Slide is located in Keauhou (original name of this area was Kahaluʻu) on the island of Hawaiʻi . It is the largest historical hōlua course left in the islands. Hōlua slides were used in the extremely dangerous activity of sliding across solidified lava surface. Though many had believed for years that this ritualistic practice

42-513: A cultural and educational complex on the site. The hotel closed in October 2012. As of August 2014, demolition is planned for fall 2015. Both hotels have been torn down and the site returned to natural condition. The Kalahuu Bay District was added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 27, 1974. The bay is still used today by surfers, with a surf school across the street from

63-666: A landmark for canoe races. In 1970, the Keauhou Beach Hotel was built on the point South of the bay. The hotel was bought in 1987 for $ 13M by the Azabu Building Company, headed by Japanese businessman Kitaro Watanabe. Plans were to enlarge it and build a larger resort combined with the Kona Lagoon Hotel (built in 1975), and more facilities across the street, to be called the Azabu Kona Beach Resort. There

84-647: A program called ReefTeach to educate visitors about the preservation of the bay, and has produced some educational videos on the history of the area. An educational festival called the Ocean Fair is held here as part of the Kona Earth Festival, associated with Earth Day . The hotel is now called the Outrigger Keauhou Beach Resort.The hotels have both been torn down. Two more Heiaus on this point are being reconstructed. Directly south of this point

105-486: A thatched roof house, and King David Kalākaua built a beach house in this area which has been reconstructed. South of the bay is Hāpaialiʻi Heiau , associated with astrological observation, built between 1411 and 1465 and restored in 2007. The Keʻeku Heiau was used for human sacrifice ( luakini ) and Kapuanoni Heiau were also built just south of the bay. Petroglyphs thought to depict the defeat of Kamalalawalu of Maui by Lonoikamakahiki can be viewed at low tide near

126-471: Is a National Historic Landmark . The post office and a small museum are located in the Keauhou Shopping Center. This Hawaiʻi state location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Kahaluu Bay Kahaluʻu Bay ( / ˌ k ɑː h ə ˈ l uː ʔ uː / ; Hawaiian pronunciation: [ˈkɐhɐˈluʔu] ) is a historic district and popular recreation area on

147-515: The Board on Geographic Names officially designated it "Keauhou" in 1914. It has a post office with the ZIP code 96739. The post office is a contract station only; people who live in the community use the zip code of 96740 or 96725. Historic areas near Keauhou include Keauhou Bay , where Kamehameha III was born, Kahaluu Bay directly North, and Ahu A Umi Heiau in the uplands. The Keauhou Holua Slide

168-595: The Kona coast of the Big Island of Hawaiʻi . This area has been populated for about 500 years, and in the 18th and 19th centuries was an important royal residence. One major feature is Pa o ka menehune (which means literally "wall of the ancients" ), a breakwater constructed in Ancient Hawaii that might have once enclosed the entire bay. Since construction of a heiau using the dry-stack masonry technique ( uhau humu pohaku )

189-587: The Makahiki games. It can be seen from Aliʻi Highway, across from the Kona Country Club golf course clubhouse. The slide originally went into Heʻeia Bay, but the part below the road was destroyed and is now used by a golf course and vacation homes. The preserved parts above the road are best viewed from the air, e.g. satellite images at 19°33′44.43″N 155°57′30.5″W  /  19.5623417°N 155.958472°W  / 19.5623417; -155.958472 This area

210-529: The ancient canoe landing. The area around the bay was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974 as historic district number 74000713 in 1974. The state registry lists it as site 10-37-4150. The south end of the bay became Kahaluʻu Beach County Park in 1953, a popular snorkeling spot, although the beach is rocky with some gray sand. The parking lot is open 7am - 7pm, and lifeguards are on duty during limited hours. The Kohala Center sponsors

231-414: The friction between the papahōlua and lava rock surface during the practice of heʻehōlua . Today, there is one other usable kahua hōlua slide that was constructed in 2011 and is located at Turtle Bay Resort . Other than that heʻehōlua is practiced today in pastures on the high slopes of Hawaiʻi Island and Maui, as well as on groomed grass hills throughout Hawaiʻi. The Kāneaka Hōlua Slide was connected to

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252-427: The hotel was sold again to Trinity Investments from Chicago. The 462-room Kona Lagoon Hotel, closed since 1988, had fallen into disrepair. Local people said the project was "cursed" because of all the sacred sites in the area, and it was torn down in 2004, with long-term plans to restore the historic sites. In 2012, Kamehameha Schools announced plans to close and eventually demolish the Keauhou Beach Hotel, and to build

273-467: The nearby Keauhou Shopping Center includes a reproduction of a hōlua sled and more information about the other historic sites in the area. Keauhou, Hawaii Keauhou (also spelled Keauhoa or Keauhua ) is an unincorporated community on the island of Hawaii in Hawaii County , Hawaii , United States. Its elevation is 13 feet (4 m). Because the community has borne multiple names,

294-405: The shoreline at the end of the hōlua slide where the waves meet the rock coastline. When constructed it was first layered with large slabs of pāhoehoe lava with smaller and smaller lava material added until the kahua hōlua was finished off with a fine ash surface to cover those larger pieces of lava rock. When in use, it was covered lightly with pili grass to provide a medium surface to minimize

315-404: The temples. Several kuʻula (sacred stones, said to have been brought from Maui) were monuments to the plentiful fish and Green turtles that are still found in the bay. Across Aliʻi Drive from the bay are the stone ruins of the original Helani Church built in 1861 by Rev. John D. Paris . It was built on the ruins of the ʻOhiʻamukumuku Heiau . As the population moved inland, a new Helani Church

336-474: Was a major undertaking, it is unusual to find the concentration of about ten that were built on this bay. The Kuʻemanu Heiau is on the north end of the bay. This was used by royalty to view surfing and as a residence. Nearby the Keawaiki canoe landing site is popular today with local surfers. Two ancient fishponds called Waikuaʻala and Poʻo Hawaiʻi are still visible. Royal Governor John Adams Kuakini had

357-498: Was also a botanical park called Kona Gardens on the uphill ( mauka ) side of the street. However, the investors suffered financial problems in the 1990s. The other properties were abandoned, reverting to the holder of the lease in 1995, the investment arm of Kamehameha Schools , which eventually also bought the remaining hotel. In June 1996, three of the executives were arrested in Tokyo, suspected of concealing assets from creditors. In 1997,

378-577: Was constructed at a higher elevation still used by the congregation today. On the grounds of a former Kahuna 's house, a Catholic church officially called "Saint Peter's by the Sea" was built in 1880 on Laʻaloa bay , and then moved to its present location in 1912, run by the Saint Michael the Archangel Catholic Church Parish. It is commonly known as "the little blue church", and is used as

399-429: Was openly used. There are several burials found throughout the slide area suggesting that injuries and death were common when sliding down this particular course. The remaining length of the slide is approx. 2,600 feet (790 m) long, of the original length which was said to be over 5,280 feet (1,600 m) long. The slide course ended on the shoreline at Heʻeia Bay. Small portions of the hōlua course are still remain on

420-576: Was restricted to the aliʻi class of men, this is not the case. The majority of oral and written histories of heʻehōlua prior to missionary/western influence was inclusive of the female as well as the male nobility of ancient Hawaii . Contrary to popular belief, heʻehōlua was widely practiced among all the Kanaka Maoli community throughout the Kingdom . This particular hōlua course was primarily used for ritualistic purposes, but perhaps there were times when it

441-541: Was used by the royal families such as the King Kamehameha III and King David Kalākaua . By the 1950s trees and shrubs were encroaching on the sides of the slide, and sections had settled due to earthquakes. It was added to the list of National Historic Landmarks in Hawaii on December 29, 1962, and added to the National Register of Historic Places listings on the island of Hawaii on October 15, 1966. A small museum at

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