Dear Maui County Council Members,
Aloha from a member of the Board for the Maui Academy of Performing Arts. I appreciate your time and interest in reading this statement on behalf of MAPA about our funding request for FY27.
When the Naylor Theater opened its doors last fall, Cabaret sold out nine consecutive performances. On formal opening night, Maui Youth Theatre alums - and renowned performing artists – Amy Hānaialiʻi Gilliom and Eric Gilliom stood on that stage and marveled at the permanent home for the program, and MAPA.
That moment didn't happen by accident. It happened because this community, and this Council, believed it was worth building, and the family for whom the theatre is named, believes "it [the Naylor] belongs to the community.”
We do too, and we're asking you to continue believing in us.
MAPA is requesting $500,000 in the FY27 budget to complete the technical outfitting of the Naylor Theater: a theatrical lighting grid (~$100,000), a professional LED lighting instrument package (~$200,000), and the audio systems and rigging to make it fully operational. Without this infrastructure, the theater can open its doors but cannot deliver the quality of work — or generate the earned revenue — that sustains everything MAPA does. That includes the in-school programs reaching 10,000+ children annually and the community programming that has been part of Maui's fabric for more than 50 years. A theater that cannot fully function is an organization under financial strain — and that strain reaches every corner of what we do.
This investment also reaches beyond MAPA. Along with the Iao Theater and the Hālau of ʻŌiwi Art, MAPA's Naylor Theatre is an anchor of the Wailuku Arts District — a soon-to-be Special Improvement District (SID) taking shape in the heart of Wailuku. A fully operating theater brings consistent foot traffic to Wailuku's shops, galleries, and restaurants in a way few other investments can. The Arts & Economic Prosperity 6 study found that arts attendees spend an average of $38.46 per person beyond ticket cost, and out-of-county visitors nearly double that amount.* That's a recurring economic contribution to downtown Wailuku every time the curtain goes up — and it grows as the Naylor attracts larger productions and regional audiences.
This Council has invested in performing arts infrastructure on Maui before, and Maui has been enriched from our contributions to the community. The Council already contributed $350,000 to the Naylor as part of the $15 million in public and private investment that built it. This investment of $500,000 from the County would be in excellent hands. Executive Director Carolyn Wright has guided MAPA with steady vision and deep commitment to this community — she is the reason this organization has navigated the challenges of building a permanent home while keeping its programs and its people whole. Your confidence in her leadership, and in MAPA's ability to deliver on this investment, is well placed.
We'd welcome the chance to answer questions or bring you in to see the space. Thank you for your continued partnership and your service to this community.
With gratitude and aloha,

Joyce Griggs, Board Member, Maui Academy of Performing Arts
Phone: 217-390-3184 | Email: jlgriggs@gmail.com

Aloha Chair, Vice Chair, and members of the BFED committee, thank you for considering my testimony in support of Bill 55.

My name is Ken Cheung from Oceanit in Honolulu. We are Paia Mantokuji Mission’s engineering consultants, and we have been working with Paia Mantokuji to stabilize their eroding shoreline to protect their historic temple grounds for almost a decade.

Our goal is not only to protect the Paia Mantokuji’s structures, but to preserve Mantokuji Bay for its use as a habitat for wildlife and recreation for residents and visitors.

We have exhausted our resources in the latest round of repairs of the emergency shoreline protection structure, and are humbly asking for the County’s support to design, permit, and construct a long-term solution to preserve the bay.

The long-term plan is in the concept stage, and it involves two elements:

1. Dune restoration via beach nourishment: to stabilize the eroding escarpment and restore a sandy beach. The erosion is currently causing red clay soil to discharge into the ocean, causing chronic severe turbidity and damaging wildlife.
2. Wave dissipation by building an off-shore artificial-reef structure, also referred to as a “living breakwater”: this will reduce the amount of wave energy reaching the shore and removing sand

Paia Mantokuji is currently compliant with Federal, State, and County regulations. The Mission is maintaining the emergency protection structure under an emergency CDUP issued by DLNR. We also have a Special Management Area (SMA) permit and Shoreline Setback Approval (SSA) from Maui County, and are fully compliant with Federal regulations.

Paia Mantokuji was hoping to be provided some relief from some (not all) regulatory requirements in proposed 2026 legislation (SB3169 / HB2490), but the bill did not make it through the final House committee and is effectively dead. This means that the potential time and cost relief that we were hoping for will not be realized. We are prepared to comply with the required Federal, State, and County regulations.

Thank you for your consideration, and I will be present at the hearing to answer any questions.

Aloha.

Ken Cheung, PhD, PE
Science & Engineering Director, Oceanit
828 Fort Street Mall Ste 600 Honolulu, HI 96813
Email: kcheung@oceanit.com
Office: 808.954.4118
Fax: 808.531.3177

Testimony received from BFED Committee as of 4/21/2026 at 9:30 a.m.