Kona Village resort — Rebuild and reopen

Damage to Kona Village Resort from the March tsunami reached into the tens of millions of dollars, CEO Patrick Fitzgerald said Thursday, but he is certain the iconic hotel will open again.

Fitzgerald said he does not yet have a timeline for the resort to reopen; the earliest he could foresee that happening is sometime in 2013. Before that can happen, resort officials must finish assessing the damage with their insurance provider and review what infrastructure upgrades are mandated by county code changes in the decades since the property was developed.

“It’s still our objective to rebuild it and reopen it,” Fitzgerald said. “I’m 99.9 percent certain that will happen.”

He did not have an exact figure of the damage costs. He expected to have worked through some issues with the insurance provider in the next 60 to 90 days.

The insurance provider will be able to make the company whole, he added.

Examples of changes necessary to meet revised county codes include the need for more fire suppression measures, such as more water pressure to better cover the property, and changes to how electrical and other lines are buried, Fitzgerald said.

County officials have been helpful as the company navigates updated county code requirements, he said.

Fitzgerald said he could see the differences between the infrastructure work at the Four Seasons Hualalai, which was built in the mid 1990s, and Kona Village, which opened in 1965.

The Four Seasons “was able to sustain the damage much better,” he added.

They plan upgrades to the pools and restaurants.

Although many Kona Village regulars have voiced concerns about aesthetic upgrades to the property, Fitzgerald said conversations with long-time, return visitors revealed they are more concerned about the property’s ambiance than physical changes. He said the company is considering how to increase connectivity at the property. And they’re thinking about air conditioning units.

“Most people, when you get a warm night, without an ocean breeze, you’re not going to complain about air conditioning,” Fitzgerald said. “You don’t have to turn it on.”

He wants an air conditioning system that can be controlled at each hale and that is quiet enough not to disturb the property’s overall ambiance, he added.

Things like having the rooms set up as individual hale and the old Hawaii feel won’t change, he said.

The 82-acre resort closed following the tsunami and announced its indefinite closure in March. More than 250 employees lost their jobs.

Fitzgerald said former resort employees are now working at Sam Choy’s Kai Lanai, in the Waikoloa resorts and at the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel. The Four Seasons was also able to hire some Kona Village employees, he said.

Sandy Wallace, who was the front office cashier clerk and who worked at the resort for 31 years, just landed a new job. She’ll begin working at HFS Federal Credit Union on Monday. Getting the job offer was bittersweet, she said, because one of her competitors for the position was a former co-worker.

“We were kind of like family,” Wallace said, describing the work environment at the resort. “We were all so close. It was such a wonderful place to work.”

Employees have kept in touch, even attending workforce training classes together, she said.

Six months of job hunting was hard on her self esteem, and at 66, she was surprised she was able to find a new position. The pay isn’t even as much as she was collecting in unemployment benefits, but it means she has health insurance again.

A fund established that month raised $320,000 for 288 employees and their families, providing gift cards and gas cards. When employees went to pick up the gift cards, they found notes of encouragement from former resort guests, Wallace said.

“It brought tears to our eyes,” she said. “It was really quite overwhelming