{"id":510065,"date":"2026-01-12T04:45:19","date_gmt":"2026-01-12T04:45:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/510065\/"},"modified":"2026-01-12T04:45:19","modified_gmt":"2026-01-12T04:45:19","slug":"with-rising-seas-erosion-threatening-paia-youth-cultural-center-plans-are-underway-to-build-new-one-maui-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/510065\/","title":{"rendered":"With rising seas, erosion threatening P\u0101\u2018ia Youth & Cultural Center, plans are underway to build new one : Maui Now"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\n\"\"The P\u0101\u2018ia Youth & Cultural Center sits at the edge of an eroding shoreline buffeted by strong surf every winter. HJI \/ COLLEEN UECHI photo<\/p>\n

P\u0100\u2018IA \u2014 On winter days when the surf is especially rough, managing director Benjamin Rachunas starts his day at the P\u0101\u2018ia Youth & Cultural Center<\/a> with a mop and a broom to soak up the water seeping in through the back door.<\/p>\n

The pooling seawater is a reminder of the steadily eroding shoreline that has put the high-water mark of the ocean less than 25 feet away from the youth center that hundreds of North Shore kids flock to for programs and activities after school and on their breaks. <\/p>\n

HJI Weekly Newsletter<\/p>\n

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ADDING YOU TO THE LIST…<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why the P\u0101\u2018ia Youth Council, the nonprofit that runs the center, is moving forward with efforts to tear down the building and construct a brand-new, two-story center on a more inland site adjacent to the current one. Because it still would be in a flood zone, it will be lifted on concrete pillars.<\/p>\n

\u201cMother Nature is telling us it\u2019s time to start making some plans,\u201d Billy Jalbert, president of the P\u0101\u2018ia Youth Council\u2019s board of directors, said Thursday night at an open house about the future center.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Located at the edge of P\u0101\u2018ia town just off H\u0101na Highway, the youth center has served an estimated 6,000 kids since it was founded in 1993 out of a former sugar plantation workers\u2019 home. It\u2019s a kid\u2019s playhouse dream \u2014 home to a skate park, a basketball hoop, pool table and a big-screen TV for limited gaming time. Surfboards line the walls and skate helmets dangle from a line. Upstairs, the youth-run radio station 88.9 FM broadcasts music selected by the kids.<\/p>\n

The kids learn to make nutritious meals in the youth center\u2019s certified commercial kitchen and how to throw pottery on a wheel in the art studio. And soon they\u2019ll add a sewing studio designed by one of the kids who loves making her own clothes. <\/p>\n

Rachunas said a really great aspect is \u201call these programs were inspired by the kids and what they want to do.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"\"Benjamin Rachunas, managing director of the P\u0101\u2018ia Youth & Cultural Center, cleans the commercial kitchen where kids learn to cook with donated items from local restaurants and farmers. HJI \/ COLLEEN UECHI photo<\/p>\n

Those activities will make their way to the planned new youth center on a half-acre piece of land owned by Maui County. The revamped facility will be about 600 square feet bigger, with 4,300 square feet of interior space for activities, a lounge, art room, broadcast room, kitchen, loft space and a large lanai, as well as offices and restrooms. There also will be a 1,200-square-foot covered deck. <\/p>\n

Because the new building will still be in a flood zone, all activities will take place on the second floor and the bottom floor will be reserved for storage, parking or access.\u00a0There will be a 13-stall parking lot and an on-site retention basin for runoff control, said Rory Frampton of Rory Frampton Consulting, the project\u2019s land use planner. <\/p>\n

The project will be privately funded and is expected to cost about $12 million, including construction, demolition and \u201csoft costs\u201d such as design and permitting, said Alika Romanchak of project consultant Romanchak Architecture. <\/p>\n

Romanchak, whose great-grandparents were one of the earliest families to live in the structure, said the hope is to get building permits this year and start construction in 2027, with potential completion in 2028.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The current center will continue operating during construction and won\u2019t be demolished until the new one is built, Rachunas said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Time is key \u2014 while the coastal erosion hasn\u2019t affected programs yet, Rachunas said \u201cfast forward 10 years, it\u2019s going to be a problem.\u201d Just down the road, coastal erosion claimed the pavilion at Baldwin Beach Park<\/a> in 2024. At the opposite end of P\u0101\u2018ia town, gravestones at the P\u0101\u2018ia Mantokuji Soto Zen Mission\u2019s cemetery have been falling into the ocean for years<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The youth center keeps sandbags up for most of the winter. And Rachunas recalled during one of the bigger storm swells last year, a wave crashed over the dunes and wrapped around the building, flooding the front yard. Video footage showed the wave had even splashed into the second story window.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIf those dunes weren\u2019t here, that wash would have been clear across the road,\u201d said Rachunas, who\u2019s worked at the youth center since 2005.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jalbert, who\u2019s served on the board for 23 years, remembers ironwood trees that used to be in front of the center but eventually fell down and were swept away.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Some of the erosion has been stymied by dune restoration efforts two decades ago that focused on removing invasive species and replanting vegetation to help hold the sand in place, Jalbert said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt really has helped very dramatically all along P\u0101\u2018ia Bay there,\u201d Jalbert said. \u201cBut the bottom line is that the sea rising and encroaching is inevitable.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Waves roll up the shoreline fronting the P\u0101\u2018ia Youth & Cultural Center. HJI \/ COLLEEN UECHI photo<\/p>\n

Talks to relocate the center have been going on for decades, and one resident at the open house expressed disappointment that it hadn\u2019t happened sooner. Jalbert said that 20 years ago, the youth center approached A&B Properties with a proposal to buy the land the center was located on. However, at the time, A&B was negotiating with Maui County and eventually went on to donate the land to the county, which now leases the 0.9-acre site to the youth center.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The COVID-19 pandemic slowed negotiations with the county for a new 50-year lease, and by the time they finally got one hammered out and started plans to fundraise for a new center, the Lahaina and Kula fires hit in August 2023. Jalbert said they felt like a capital campaign was \u201cthe last thing in the world we should be doing.\u201d So, they kept planning in the background until they felt like enough support had mounted for the fire-ravaged communities that they could kickstart their own fundraising efforts.\u00a0The center is beginning the third year of its 50-year lease. <\/p>\n

The project\u2019s draft environmental assessment<\/a> was posted for public comment on Dec. 8 in \u201cThe Environmental Notice.\u201d It\u2019s expected to come before the Urban Design Review Board on Feb. 3 and the Maui Planning Commission on Feb. 24, Frampton said.<\/p>\n

Jalbert said over the next quarter, the youth center will be preparing to launch a fundraising campaign. He said the project is expensive because it\u2019s being designed for a flood zone. It will have features like \u201cbreakaway walls\u201d on the ground level that would detach to limit damage to the main structure and let water pass through during a major flood. Frampton also said the project site is behind the erosion hazard line and the 200-foot shoreline setback mapped out by the state and the county. <\/p>\n

When asked if it was better to build outside of the flood zone, Jalbert said the center would \u201close the magic of the beach.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s not a place in P\u0101\u2018ia that\u2019s makai of H\u0101na Highway that would be available to us where we\u2019d be able to do that,\u201d Jalbert said. \u201cAnd so, you change that, and you change the whole nature of the youth center.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Billy Jalbert, president of the P\u0101\u2018ia Youth Council board of directors, talks about plans for the youth center\u2019s location during an open house on Thursday. HJI \/ COLLEEN UECHI photo<\/p>\n

Thorne Abbott, president of the Wailuku firm Coastal Planners, said while \u201cavoidance\u201d is usually the best solution when it comes to coastal erosion and flooding, it\u2019s technically permissible to build in the flood zone as long as the structure follows standards like being elevated a certain height above expected flood levels.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can build in the flood zone \u2014 you just have to build differently,\u201d Abbott said. \u201cJust like you can build in a place that\u2019s susceptible to earthquakes \u2014 you just have to build differently.\u201d<\/p>\n

Abbott said planning based on sea level rise predictions<\/a> and restoration of sand dunes are crucial measures in coping with the erosion that has taken its toll along the North Shore and other coastal communities around Maui. He said relocating the youth center \u201cis a very smart choice.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDo I think it would be better to relocate it somewhere else? Sure, it probably would be, but that\u2019s probably not necessarily viable in this case,\u201d Abbott said. \u201cThey also wouldn\u2019t have access to the ocean, which is a big part of the use of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the kids who come to the youth center, the beachfront location is the whole point of its charm, especially the annual P\u0101\u2018ia Bay Beachfest<\/a>, a two-day surf competition set for Jan. 24-25.<\/p>\n

Ten-year-old Dayton Yamashita said he\u2019s \u201cnot really happy\u201d to see the current facility go.\u00a0\u201cI love this place,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The young bodyboarder said \u201cit\u2019s so easy\u201d to just grab a board and run out to the ocean from the center. He and his friends base their plans on how the surf looks that day.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it\u2019s big, then we\u2019ll go bodyboard. If it\u2019s small, then we\u2019ll go skate,\u201d he said. \u201cOr if the skate park is small, we\u2019ll maybe just swim or just go walk around town.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"A group of kids play a round of knockout on the P\u0101\u2018ia Youth & Cultural Center\u2019s basketball court on Thursday. HJI \/ COLLEEN UECHI photo<\/p>\n

Twenty-four-year-old staff member Antonio Mason said Yamashita \u201creminds me of a little me when I was here.\u201d Mason\u2019s memories of the youth center revolve around \u201cpeanut butter jellies, surfing and a few photos in between.\u201d When he wasn\u2019t in the water, he was in the media lab learning about surf photography.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAt that age, all it was to me was like hanging out with my friends, surfing, bodyboarding,\u201d Mason said. \u201cThere was always food in the kitchen. If you didn\u2019t bring money, bust out a rake. You can get some food, just act like you really want it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mason is now the Project Venture program specialist and helps plan field trips mixed with community service. Recently the kids went on a fishing trip to K\u012bhei that included cleanup and restoration work in the wetlands. This week they\u2019re playing frisbee golf and helping maintain the course at Polipoli.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He said the experiences he had growing up at the youth center gave him \u201cso many amazing opportunities that I now realize are my outlets.\u201d Now he mentors kids like himself, and he\u2019s channeled his passion for photography and videography into a side hustle shooting weddings and other content.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cComing back full circle, I didn\u2019t realize the importance of those connections within the community until I came back as a facilitator,\u201d Mason said.<\/p>\n

\"\"Some days the winter surf gets so rough that a big wave will send seawater through the back door of the P\u0101\u2018ia Youth & Cultural Center. HJI \/ COLLEEN UECHI photo<\/p>\n

Trisha Smith, better known as radio DJ and music journalist \u201cTrish Da Dish,\u201d is also going to miss the current center where she serves as the manager and program specialist of RadiOpio. Her workplace digs include a music room with a piano, guitars and drums, and a small broadcasting studio stacked with CDs, microphones, computer monitors and small touches left by the kids like a squishy boba light.<\/p>\n

Smith said she loves seeing the kids overcome their nerves and find their voice on the radio, especially those who are more introverted at home or school. On Wednesdays, it\u2019s \u201cGirl Power Day,\u201d and they play nothing but songs by female powerhouses like Paula Fuga and Aretha Franklin.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all about them being confident, building character, and music is a really great way to do that,\u201d Smith said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Smith said in a world driven by artificial intelligence, there\u2019s something special about getting kids to put down their smartphones and tune in to a more classic form of media like radio.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThey want to know who the Beatles are, they want to hear about Green Day, they think the Gorillaz are older music, like, it\u2019s wild,\u201d Smith said. \u201cSo my thing is getting that phone out of their hand and getting them to talk about something that\u2019s not necessarily from AI. \u2026 And then they come in here, and they\u2019re naturally speaking from their heart, and they want to create something.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Radio DJ Trish Da Dish shows the broadcasting studio where she helps kids learn to find their voice on air. HJI \/ COLLEEN UECHI photo<\/p>\n

Jalbert said the youth center has grown from serving 100 to 200 kids annually to anywhere from 300 to 600 depending on the year. He said having the space to expand is an important part of relocating the center.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And while the winter waves may create headaches for Rachunas and his mop until the center relocates, the kids will keep soaking up the surf and enjoying the current space as much as they can. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe got waves Saturday, bring your board down,\u201d Mason said as Yamashita headed out to meet his ride on Thursday night. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cLike big kine?\u201d Yamashita asked, pausing in the doorway.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBig enough, yeah,\u201d Mason said. \u201cIt\u2019s small now, but Saturday will be different.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The P\u0101\u2018ia Youth & Cultural Center sits at the edge of an eroding shoreline buffeted by strong surf…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":510066,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[228081,228082,228083,145714,228084,746,37610,228085,8580,36821,89001,228086,38295,125439,199628,228087,228088,228089,228090,159,17199,228091,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-510065","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-alika-romanchak","9":"tag-benjamin-rachunas","10":"tag-billy-jalbert","11":"tag-coastal-erosion","12":"tag-coastal-planning","13":"tag-environment","14":"tag-environmental-assessment","15":"tag-flood-zone","16":"tag-flooding","17":"tag-maui","18":"tag-maui-county","19":"tag-maui-youth","20":"tag-north-shore","21":"tag-npcrosspost","22":"tag-paia","23":"tag-paia-youth-and-cultural-center","24":"tag-paia-youth-council","25":"tag-radiopio","26":"tag-rory-frampton","27":"tag-science","28":"tag-sea-level-rise","29":"tag-shoreline-erosion","30":"tag-united-states","31":"tag-unitedstates","32":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115880311349524421","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/510065","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=510065"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/510065\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/510066"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=510065"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=510065"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=510065"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}