The Department of Land and Natural Resources reopened 'Iao Valley State Monument on Tuesday after completing repairs to park walkway sections.

The repairs included replacement of streamside walkways, repairs to damaged concrete walkway steps in this section, and replacement of sections of the main asphalt walkway from the comfort station to the bridge.

Vares Contracting was the contractor for the project, which cost $23,500 provided by the transient accommodations tax revenue in cooperation with the Hawaii Tourism Authority.

In addition, during the park closure, Division of State Parks and its vendor, Republic Parking, refurbished and installed a new parking attendant booth to replace one that was vandalized and burned beyond repair in early November.  A donation made the replacement possible.

"We appreciate the generous donation by Maui Land and Pine Co. to our parking vendor, Republic Parking, of a replacement parking booth at no cost. This is private sector helping private sector helping the public sector and a great example of Maui style kokua among neighbors," said Dan Quinn, State Parks administrator.

Iao Valley State Monument, with a scenic backdrop of the West Maui mountains, features a paved walking trail and provides a scenic viewpoint of Kukaemoku (Iao Needle), an erosional feature that rises 1,200 feet from the valley floor.  A short paved loop trail meanders through an ethnobotanical garden adjacent to Iao stream.