Cleaning Up Graffiti to Restore the Magnificent View of the Koolaus from H3

HHC founder/president Mike Gabbard decided to take on this project after getting calls from H3 commuters on their way to Pearl Harbor and West Oahu complaining about how the pristine, spectacular view of the mountains just before the tunnel was ruined by punk taggers who defaced the Omega Building.

Mike said, “I drove over there myself to check it out and spent 30 minutes gazing at the incredible view from H3 looking up toward the tunnels. And sure enough, taggers eagerly seeking their 15 minutes of fame, had plastered their names all over the Omega Building. I figured why not get some volunteers to restore the view of this gorgeous natural landscape? Many thanks to the firefighters and HHC volunteers who jumped in to help out.”.

HHC would like to especially thank the Honolulu Fire Fighters from the Kailua and Kaneohe Stations who graciously volunteered to spend off-duty time, and for some, after working all night, to paint over the graffiti that marred the beautiful view. Let’s hope that it stays “untagged” for a long while!

Healthy Hawaii Coalition has adopted the Omega Building, so if the taggers return, we will repaint it within 24 hours. Please contact us if you notice graffiti on the Omega Building- 778-4243.

Mahalo nui loa to:

Kailua Fire Station - Captain Geoff Chang and Ryan Fernandez
Kaneohe Fire Station - Captain Elliott Mattos, Roy Alvarado, Joe Souza, and Sean Kamai
The Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (land access)- Sam Moku and Kaipo Duncan

Press Release Date: November 7, 2005

Healthy Hawaii Coalition (HHC) announced today that they’ll be teaming up with members of the Honolulu Fire Department – Kaneohe Fire Station to repaint the Omega Building, a favorite target of graffiti “taggers” in Haiku Valley, Kaneohe.

Volunteers will meet at 9:00 on Monday morning, November 7, at the gate on Haiku Road and will drive back in the valley to the Omega Building.

Mike Gabbard, HHC’s founder and president, said “We’ve gotten many calls from H3 commuters on their way to Pearl Harbor and West Oahu complaining about how the pristine, spectacular view of the mountains just before the tunnel has been ruined by punk taggers who feel pride in seeing their names plastered all over the Omega Building. We thought this would be a simple way of giving back to the community and restoring the view of the gorgeous natural landscape.”

The Omega Building has become a favorite target for graffiti taggers because of its prominent location off of H3. The building was used by the U.S. Coast Guard to house radio equipment, but since the arrival of new satellite technology it has no longer been needed. The Department of Hawaiian Home Lands now owns the building.

KHON Channel 2 News Coverage of Healthy Hawaii Coalition (11/7/05 at 5pm)

Volunteers battle the paint

It's in clear view as you're coming off the H-3 freeway overlooking Kaneohe. It's the old Omega station used to house radio equipment for the Coast Guard. But it's become a favorite target of taggers, even though reaching the building isn't easy.

On Monday, volunteers joined the fight against graffiti, armed with buckets of paint and brushes. The Healthy Hawaii Coalition teamed up with the Honolulu Fire Department to repaint the building, which is now owned by the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands.