Ending a years-long standoff, the state Board of Land and Natural Resources (BLNR) has properly voted to allow the state to demolish a breakwater adjacent to Shangri La, the historic Doris Duke estate at Black Point. It’s the right decision, eliminating an attractive, but hazardous manmade structure.

Swimmers have been injured and even left paralyzed by accidents at the breakwater, made of large boulders, and Shangri La’s owner, the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art, has long advocated for its removal. BLNR denied foundation applications to take the breakwater down in 2018, but now the state is liable for the structure: The foundation conveyed ownership to the state in 2020. The foundation will also pay $1 million toward taking it down.