WAILUKU, Hawaii —  Maui County efforts to acquire 7.043 acres since 2006 became a reality when the $950,000 sale on the Von Tempsky Community Center Complex (formerly the Kula Community Center) closed on Sept. 6.

What You Need To Know

  • The facility is regularly used to hold community gatherings, classes and milestone events

  • Located off Lower Kula Road, the area was renamed the Von Tempsky Community Complex after the Maui County Council passed a bill in 2022 to honor the generational Upcountry family

  • The purchase includes the entire complex home to the community center, tennis courts and picnic areas that are now available for public use in perpetuity

The facility is regularly used to hold community gatherings, classes and milestone events.

Located off Lower Kula Road, the area was renamed the Von Tempsky Community Complex after the Maui County Council passed a bill in 2022 to honor the generational Upcountry family. The purchase includes the entire complex home to the community center, tennis courts and picnic areas that are now available for public use in perpetuity.

“The County of Maui today acquired a property that has long served as the heart of our community facilities in Kula,” said Mayor Richard Bissen in a news release. “With the support of the Von Tempsky family, the Maui County Council, and Council Budget Chair Yuki Lei Sugimura, we can ensure that this well-loved area will continue to serve the community for generations to come.”

Sugimura, chair of the Budget, Finance and Economic Development Committee, proposed funding for the purchase and has advocated for years that the land fall under the county after having been leased by the county since the early 1950s.

“Our Kula and greater Upcountry communities have relied on these facilities for generations and have long championed the county’s acquisition of the property,” Sugimura said. “I want to express my gratitude to our community for steadfastly supporting this priority, and extend my thanks to Mayor Bissen and the Von Tempsky ʻohana for helping make this vision a reality.”

The community has supported the land acquisition for the decades and the Von Tempsky family has backed the county’s commitment to preserve the land for public use indefinitely per the release.

In an earlier news release, Kimball Von Tempsky, the eldest family member in his generation and managing partner for the landowner, Von Tempsky Partnership, stated, “This family is so happy to be able to make this acquisition possible. We are proud that the County of Maui has chosen to name the facility the Von Tempsky Community Center Complex in Kula.”

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