The Maunakea Visitor Information Station on Hawaiʻi Island reopens on July 15 more than a year after it shut its doors in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Visitor Information Station (VIS) will be open for modified daily hours of 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m until further notice, a release by the University of Hawaiʻi said. It sits at athe 9,200-foot elevation of Maunakea, in an area known as Halepōhaku.
“Our goal is to educate the visitors on the cultural importance of the mountain,” Rodrigo Romo, the new VIS manager, told the university. “We need to make sure visitors know how to behave on the mountain and approach it with the respect it deserves.”
The installation of safety barriers and plans for staff to implement proper social distancing will assure visitors adhere to local, state and federal guidelines. The Center for Maunakea Stewardship completed parking lot and traffic flow improvements, putting parking and vehicle pull-outs are on the same side of the road as VIS for safety reasons.
Visit the center's website for more information.