Seaview Performing Arts Center for Education or SPACE

There has been a lot of discussion lately on Punaweb regarding SPACE and their special use permit. A very brief history includes that the performing arts center was formed years ago and granted a special use permit for the Hawaii Volcano Circus. Over the years they have built and expanded their programs and even built a large new structure to house it all. Now, apparently Hawaii County feels they are operating beyond the scope of their special use permit and have issued them a "cease and desist" order until they reapply for a permit that encompasses all of what they do there.

I don't know that much about it all and not sure how I feel on the matter. I know when I first fell in love with SeaView everyone said "oh its a very quirky neighborhood" and that was reveiled to me when I looked around there, but quirky or funky I liked it. I like the sense of community there. I also thought it was neat that SPACE was located there as SeaView is quite a distance from infrastructure on the island and provides for some. I also thought that having a community performing arts center that had a weekly farmer's market and other gatherings added greatly to the community.

The Punaweb discussion sheds differing opinions on the topic. A few of the posters are folks that currently live in SeaView and have interactions with SPACE. There is discussion of having such a growing organization located inside a residential subdivision and the resulting traffic and noise. I can certainly understand that possibly this organization has outgrown SeaView with its small lots and tight neighborhood. Its definitely an issue that has caught my interest.

Here's the link to their current website http://hvcircus.org/arts_center.htm