The state, Maui County, and federal and private partners are moving ahead with plans to rebuild King Kamehameha III Elementary School at the Ku‘ia site below the Lahaina Bypass, officials announced Thursday. Cultural and environmental surveys for the 14-acre property are expected to begin in the coming months.

“This represents a major milestone in Lahaina’s healing and recovery,” Gov. Josh Green said in a statement. “It demonstrates the resilience of the Lahaina community, with support from the County of Maui and the entire state.”

The $162 million project would sit about 0.6 mile mauka of the original King Kamehameha III Elementary campus on Front Street, which was destroyed in the August 2023 wildfires. The new location would be above the tsunami inundation zone.

King Kamehameha III E

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