Over the past 43 years, Windward Oahu’s lush, tranquil 400-acre Ho‘omaluhia Botanical Garden has been open to visitors nearly the entire time.

But city officials now assert in the post-pandemic era the number of guests to Ho‘omaluhia — which in the Hawaiian language translates to “a peaceful refuge” — have skyrocketed dramatically, to a point where the garden itself needs peace and refuge.

To that end, Honolulu Department of Parks and Recreation says starting next year it plans to close the garden one day a week to allow for much needed maintenance and repairs to the city-run facility that’s open 363 days each year.

But DPR is requesting that the public have input on the matter — via an online poll that asks whether the site should be closed every Tuesday or Thursday.

The public can ac

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