Paint ball returns to Maui

Olowalu facility welcoming first customers today; grand opening planned for Feb. 2

January 13, 2013
By CHRIS SUGIDONO - Staff Writer (csugidono@mauinews.com) , The Maui News

After an absence of nearly eight years, paint ball will triumphantly return to the Valley Isle this weekend.

Seasoned paint ballers and curious adventure seekers above the age of 10 can head over to Maui Paintball at 11 a.m. today. It is located between the Olowalu Refuse and Recycle Transfer Station and Olowalu General Store.

"Honestly it's a shock," said Maui Paintball founder and owner Clint Hansen. "I didn't expect it to take this long, so it's amazing."

Kapalua Adventures staff and family played the first match at the Maui Paintball facility in Olowalu last week.

The Maui News / CHRIS SUGIDONO photo

The 31-year-old Hansen said bringing paint ball back to the island has been a long and arduous task, but one he was adamant about. When the Kula-based Darren and Donald Paintball (D&D) closed in 2005, players no longer had access to formal fields or games.

Hansen said he was disappointed, considering that he was introduced to the sport at the Kula paint-ball field on his 13th birthday.

"I loved it," he said. "Because D&D shut down here, there was nothing for kids to do. I took the time and effort to find a field, and that took about five years."

Hansen, a real estate agent, said it took several years to find a suitable location and receive approval on a special use permit from various governing bodies.

"You have to talk to multiple government, federal, state, county, environmental and cultural (groups)," he said. "I mean, there's dozens and dozens of studies that took an immense amount of time and effort . . . about two years."

It took another year for the permitting process, which included a fencing permit and a grading permit for the parking lot, Hansen said. He also needed letters of authorization for onsite storage buildings that also will serve as office space.

The 10-acre facility is complete with 4,500 square feet of tree forts, which required multiple letters from the county to allow construction. Hansen attended one of the county's permitting open houses and showed representatives the design of his tree forts.

"I don't have anything under the roof. I don't have any electricity in it, and I don't have any plumbing. So it's basically a walkway," he said. "I'm fortunate enough to be exempt from (standard building codes) because it's a play structure."

Aside from the tree forts, an old double-decker sugar cane bus serves as a strategic point within one of the three designated playing fields. The bus was abandoned in Kihei and transported to the facility, eventually being hauled into position with Hansen's tractor. Read more...