Take the Eat. Love. Kapolei. Pledge to support local eateries

The new, $350,000 shade apparatus over Ka Makana Aliʻi’s Center Court common area can count local steel guitar master Greg Sardinha as a fan.

“Hey, this is really cool,” Sardinha said, motioning to the structure, as he started his set at the Ka Makana Aliʻi Steel Guitar Festival last weekend. “Last time I was here they didn’t have. It was really hot.”

Since Ka Makana Aliʻi opened in 2016, the center court common area has only been good for a few minutes of respite when the sun’s out. The hot sun, shining down with no interference, made it too uncomfortable for folks to really take a load off, or for kids to play un-sunscreened.

Ka Makana Aliʻi management wrote a pretty big check to fix the problem. According to the building permit for the project, the total cost was $350,000.

Construction began after the holiday shopping season, and wrapped up a few weeks ago. Honolulu-based Nordic PCL was the contractor.
The shade structure is anchored to beams extending out from shops ringing the court. So, on one side of the canopy, there aren’t a bunch of columns to obstruct walkways or views. (That surely drove up the cost of the project, but it’s clearly the best solution.)

The beige and browns of the shade sails blend into the colors of the rest of the mall, as it should. A bunch of pastel-colored shade sails would draw the eye away from the fun times at the court.

Big ups to Ka Makana Aliʻi’s management, DeBartolo Development, for hearing the community and making this important, expensive fix.

Steel guitar players, families, and kids are all enjoying the comfort of their decision.