Construction of a $1.2 million duplex home in Niu Valley is stirring community concern that the work may be disturbing remnants of a documented Hawaiian heiau.

The ongoing work also is generating criticism from local historians that government officials allow such construction without proper safeguards to protect a culturally significant ancient place of worship, and a city inspection is now planned.

“These are important places,” said Jan Becket, a retired Kamehameha Schools teacher who photographed 125 historic sites on Oahu for a 1999 book that includes a feature of Kulepeamoa Heiau in Niu Valley. “Often they’re not respected as they should be.”

It’s not clear whether any heiau features have been disturbed or destroyed, but it’s evident to Becket that work has been done on the property at 418 Halemaumau St. at the foot of Kulepeamoa Ridge, which bisects the upper section of Niu Valley, without sufficient regard to protecting historic grounds.

“You need cultural monitors when you are disturbing a known site like that,” he said. “That’s common sense. I’m really sad every time I hear about a place being further desecrated.”

City records show the property owner received city building permits to demolish a 67-year-old house on the site and build a new two-family dwelling with an estimated construction value of $1.2 million.

The city Department of Planning and Permitting said Monday that an inspector will be sent to the site after receiving a request Monday from the state Office of Hawaiian Affairs asking DPP to order a halt to work until the State Historic Preservation Division of the Department of Land and Natural Resources can properly assess concerns.

OHA told DPP that it is concerned about heiau destruction, and noted that ancestral burial sites have been associated with heiau that sometimes were built over entrances to burial caves for protection.

DPP said it relies on SHPD to flag properties where construction could affect historic sites, and that the Niu Valley home site wasn’t flagged by SHPD.

DLNR said it is aware of the situation and that an investigation is underway.

Chris Cramer, a historian with the Maunalua Fishpond Heritage Center, a nonprofit that has worked to preserve cultural sites in East Oahu, visited the Niu Valley property Saturday after getting calls from concerned residents who are familiar with the property’s historical significance.

Cramer saw a large hillside section of the property had been cleared of natural vegetation, exposing a dry-stacked rock wall segment he believes is part of the heiau.

“It’s real concerning,” he said, noting that there are no flags or fencing to indicate that the wall remnant and perhaps other heiau features have been identified for protection on the site where a heavy excavator recently began grading work after the old home was demolished last year.

Cramer said he made contact on the phone Saturday with the property owner through workers on the site and let the owner know about the heiau site, but is unsure what will be done.

Excavator work was ongoing Monday.

The property owner could not be reached for comment Monday through a construction company that he owns and is using to do work on the site.

Property records show that Ru Hui Zhang and Liang Hong He, husband and wife, bought the property in 2019 for $1.5 million with three other people.

The property owners received a demolition permit early last year, followed by a permit to build a new home last month. The contractor listed on the permit is Longhui Inc., which business records show is led by Zhang and He.

The 22,140-square-foot lot used to include a big front yard backed by a home that was built in 1954 somewhat tucked into the foot of the ridge while portions of the lot extended higher up.

Becket said Kulepeamoa Heiau was documented in 1933 by archaeologist J. Gilbert McAllister, who at the time noted only portions of the heiau remained in an area where ranching existed and most heiau terrace stones had been used in walling a cattle pen.

According to a 2009 environmental assessment produced for the city Department of Design and Construction in connection with a Kalanianaole Highway sewer improvement project, McAllister could see portions of the heiau’s terrace that was 120 feet wide, 5 feet high and varied in length from 40 to 100 feet along the rise of the ridge.

A 2018 sale listing for the home at the foot of the ridge, which is named for the heiau, describes the home as perched on a knoll where a paniolo headmaster’s house once stood.

Becket said it’s obvious to him from looking at a photo of the present construction site that at least one feature of the heiau was uncovered by the vegetation clearing, and he fears that such things might be disturbed or destroyed.

“They have exposed features that have been sitting there all these years,” said Becket, who visited the site in 1994 with permission of the home’s then-owner and photographed a 5-foot-high upright stone held in place by smaller stones a little higher up on the ridge.

OHA, in its message to DPP, said a lack of regulatory oversight exists for protecting known archaeological sites.

OHA noted that in 2013 DPP halted construction of two homes by local developer Jeff Stone in Wailupe Valley after community concerns were raised over cultural sites being disturbed. In that case the property ended up being preserved from development.