DAGS getting new digs in Honokaʻa

Hawaiʻi Department of Accounting and General Services is getting a new home on the Big Island, breaking ground earlier this month on a nearly $8 million base yard project in a different  location in Honokaʻa.

The 8,352-square-foot facility — located on a parcel that formerly housed a vacant warehouse behind substations for Hawaiʻi Fire Department and Hawaiʻi Police Department — will include several offices, storage and dedicated workshops for plumbers, electricians, carpenters and painters.

“It’s about twice the size of the current base yard, which is a few miles down the road,” said State Comptroller and Hawaiʻi Department of Accounting and General Services Director Keith Regan in announcing the project. “We are excited at the promise of more space to work, which we expect will result in more efficiency for the state buildings we service.”

The base yard — upon its completion in about a year — will be managed by the Department of Accounting and General Services West Hawaiʻi District Office. The Honokaʻa base currently has a staff of nine, with the department planning to hire two more workers.

“The Honokaʻa base supports state facilities from Laupāhoehoe to North Kohala and Waikōloa — roughly a 110-mile stretch,” said Department of Accounting and General Services West Hawaiʻi District Office Engineering Program Manager Ramzi Mansour in the announcement. “In that area, we maintain eight state buildings including state libraries, courthouses, Honokaʻa State Office Building, Kohala State Office Building, Waimea State Office Building complex and nine public schools from Laupāhoehoe to the Kohala Coast.”

The West Hawaiʻi office serves only that part of the island; however, Mansour stressed that Hawaiʻi Island is a big island, so travel times are significant just about no matter where you are located.

“Having a base yard in Honokaʻa allows us to respond faster,” he said. “The drive from our Kailua-Kona office to Honokaʻa alone is about 75 minutes. This facility means we can support the community more efficiently and cost effectively.”

Department officials thanked Hawaiʻi lawmakers — specifically Big Island state Sen. Tim Richards and state Rep. Matthias Kusch — for their support and funding for the project.

“Through their foresight in appropriating monies towards this base yard, they are giving us the resources to better serve this community,” Regan said.

One person most excited about the change is longtime Hawaiʻi Department of Accounting and General Services worker and lifelong Honokaʻa resident Wesley Murakane.

“It’s a major bonus for not just the crew and me, but also for those we serve on the Hāmākua Coast,” said Murakane in the announcement. “We are happy to improve our services to the state office buildings and the [Hawaiʻi] Department of Education.”

He has been the Honokaʻa supervisor since 2009 and comes from a line of men who also managed the base yard.

Murakane’s grandfather Thomas Murakane was the county’s Public Works supervisor for schools in 1934, when it was the county’s role to repair school facilities.

Thomas Murakane opened the first base yard in Honokaʻa.

His father Manabu Murakane took over in 1968 and was working there when the responsibility shifted to Hawaiʻi Department of Accounting and General Services in 1969.

Manabu Murakane opened the second base yard in 1976, when the department needed more space at that time.

“I grew up around [Department of Accounting and General Services],” Wesley Murakane said. “My father was instrumental in passing along his knowledge to me over the decades.”

The base yard had just five workers for many years, but has long since outgrown the facility his father oversaw.

“We have long since outgrown the space, which is why we need a new place,” explained Wesley Murakane, who is the third Murakane to supervise the Honokaʻa base yard — and now also to build one.

Manabu Murakane died three years ago.

“I wish he was here to see it,” Wesley Murakane said. “My dad would have been so thrilled and proud to see the new space come to life.”