Honolulu District Courthouse will reopen today
after a structural assessment found its parking garage, damaged the night of
Aug. 15 by a contractor,
and the courthouse are safe for occupancy.
The courthouse, or
Kauikeaouli Hale, serves many for cases including traffic, small claims, preliminary hearings, family court and other matters, and shut down Wednesday through Monday.
The Judiciary made various changes including rescheduling and moving hearings to Circuit Court and Kaneohe District Court, encouraging users to attend hearings by Zoom, and extending deadlines to file documents or conduct
hearings.
An assessment determined both buildings were safe for occupancy, said Public Works Division Administrator Christine Kinimaka late Monday afternoon.
Security Resources, a
contractor for the state, damaged the ceiling of the parking garage’s below-street level deck on Alakea Street.
Kinimaka said earlier Monday that several structural firms were “investigating the impacts of the damage and waiting for the final results to make the determination on final steps.”
The damage occurred during the installation of
security systems in the parking garage, but there was no damage to the courthouse itself, she said.
Kinimaka said the state Judiciary took the right course to close the courthouse “to protect the safety of the users of the facility,” which is immediately adjacent and to the rear of the courthouse.
An initial news release Wednesday said the closure of the courthouse at 1111
Alakea St. was done “in an overabundance of caution as a result of inadvertent structural damage caused by a contractor working in the building.”