Great news from Hawaii Island: The Los Angeles Times is reporting that the historic Volcano House and 10 camping cabins in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park will partly reopen Saturday for the first time in two years.
The National Park Service has reportedly signed a 15-year contract with the Hawaii Volcanoes Lodge Co. to renovate and refurbish the lodgings that include the 32-room hotel and the cabins at Namakanaipalo Campground.
As part of the soft reopening, a few of the cabins will be available to visitors at a cost of $55 a night. The rest, plus rooms at the hotel, will reopen in phases over the next 12 months. Starting Saturday, Volcano House will be open to visitors daily from 7:45 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. for limited food and supplies until renovations are complete. The upgrades are estimated to cost $2.5 million to $3 million.
Volcano House, which has changed and expanded over the years, was listed with the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. The most current version dates to 1941 and has a stone hearth where a fire burned constantly as a tribute to the goddess of fire and volcanoes, Pele. The property has been closed since 2010.