Nearly six years after the 2018 Kilauea eruption landed crippling blows to the buildings and roads of Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park, the National Park Serv­ice has launched a $28 million project to rehabilitate the summit area of Kilauea Volcano.

Contractors last week fenced off the Jaggar Museum and the former U.S. Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory buildings at Uekahuna Bluff in preparation for their removal as part of Phase 1 of the park’s Disaster Recovery Project.

Phase 2, scheduled to begin as early as the fall, will feature the rehabilitation of the Kilauea Visitor Center.

Meanwhile, construction of a new $21 million Hawaiian Volcano Observatory field station is underway near the historic ball field at Kilauea Military Camp.

The transformation of the Kilauea summit topography began at the outset of the 2018 eruption as magma drained from the chamber beneath Halemaumau Crater and the caldera collapsed. That triggered thousands of earthquakes that damaged the buildings in the immediate vicinity.

The three-month eruption sent 1 billion cubic yards of molten rock across the Lower Puna landscape, destroying more than 700 homes and causing an estimated $800 million in damage. The most destructive eruption in 200 years also shut down most of the national park for 134 days.

The plan for Phase 1, officials said, is to restore Uekahuna to a more natural landscape, befitting of an area Native Hawaiians and others consider sacred.

Following some interior salvage work, the buildings will be removed but the observation deck will remain. Interpretive displays, according to the plan, will be minimal to avoid interfering with the panoramic views or influencing how people interpret the sense of place, park officials said.

Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park Superintendent Rhonda Loh said anyone visiting the park should expect reduced parking, delays at the entrance station and the potential for temporary area closures, especially if a summit eruption occurs during construction.

That is quite possible. On Wednesday, the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory raised the alert level for Kilauea after scientists observed an increase in earthquake activity and inflationary ground movement.

Officials said an eruption could occur at almost any time with little advanced warning. And if it does happen, it will likely occur in or near Halemaumau Crater or the region south of the Kilauea caldera.

In any case, half the parking lot at Uekahuna is now blocked for the construction project staging area. Vehicles longer than 25 feet and wider than 8 feet will not be allowed past Kilauea Military Camp, officials said, and the gravel overflow parking lot at Kilauea Visitor Center will become a construction staging area.

Crater Rim Drive also will be realigned as part of Phase 1 to improve safety and reduce congestion at the park entrance. An administrative lane will be built and a roundabout will be added beyond the entrance station.

Phase 1 is expected to continue for over two years.

At the same time, construction will continue on the new HVO field station near Kilauea Military Camp, about a mile away from the old HVO buildings at Uekahuna Bluff. That project isn’t expected to have major impacts on visitors.

The new field station will be smaller than the old summit headquarters but big enough to allow for on-site science and volcano monitoring near the caldera, officials said.

Some materials from the damaged HVO buildings, such as decorative stained glass, plaques, rock work and other materials, will be used in the new facility.

The USGS is planning a new $60 million headquarters building next to the University of Hawaii at Hilo campus that will accommodate researchers from both HVO and the Pacific Islands Ecosystem Research Center, another USGS outfit in need of better facilities.

As for Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park, visitors are being advised to stay informed of construction­related updates and delays by checking the park website.