The Harold L. Lyon Arboretum is showing signs of new life more than two years after the botanical sanctuary was shut down because of concerns over extensive safety problems.

The University of Hawai'i-Manoa is preparing to spend nearly $3 million allotted by legislators in 2005 to make much-needed renovations to facilities, schoolchildren are again making trips to its lush gardens and its staff has nearly doubled over the past few months.

"The arboretum has come through a difficult time. The stabilized leadership of Dr. (Cliff) Morden has allowed us to work through the difficulties we had and the things that weren't working well," said Gary Ostrander, vice chancellor for research at UH-Manoa. "I think operationally, we're doing much better."

Lyon Arboretum was closed to the public in August 2004 after employees cited serious health and safety problems at the 194-acre site, including structural instability to its decaying cottages, dangerous electrical wiring in the buildings and safety problems along its trails. It reopened on a limited basis in January 2005, but its educational and commercial activities remained closed for months more.

While the arboretum has made strides since then, realizing the biggest of its goals — completion of the first phase of renovation — is about a year off. Once that is done, the facility's educational program and commercial activities will be able to resume fully, a major step toward restoring the arboretum to its former glory.

Still, challenges remain, such as finding a permanent director for the arboretum and enough money to pay for all of the planned renovations.

The arboretum deep in Manoa Valley was turned over to UH in 1953 and is a hub for critical research on endangered and rare native plants. Nearly 4,000 schoolchildren made their way through the arboretum's educational facilities each year before its closure. The Lyon Arboretum is the only university arboretum in the United States that is in a tropical rainforest.

Work will begin first on the arboretum's main building, known commonly as Cottage H or the Visitors Center. Bringing the building up to compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act makes up the bulk of the work there.

"We're awaiting approval, and it would go out for bid shortly after that. With any luck, if things progress as we hope, maybe later this year it should be completely done," said Morden, interim director of the arboretum and UH botanist.

That would mean that adult education classes once held in the building, which used to average more than 100 classes a year, could resume and so could general public access, he said.

Restoration of that building will allow children's programs to reopen to full capacity and permit UH classes to resume.

"We do have some class groups that come up and meet, but hopefully we can expand that a little more," Morden said.

Other renovations are planned later in two additional phases, but the $3 million from the Legislature will only cover the project through its second phase, Morden said.

"We'll have to find or raise money for the third phase somehow," he said.

The arboretum's Children's Education Program began running on a limited basis to kindergarten and first-grade students about a year ago after officials changed the field trip curriculum.

"We rewrote the curriculum because areas (of the arboretum) we had been using in the past were no longer accessible. We had to rewrite the field trip activities so that they could take place in other areas of the arboretum," said Jill Laughlin, education programs director.

As the arboretum began hiring new staff, field trips were opened slowly to other grade levels, Laughlin said.

Possibly one of the biggest changes at the arboretum so far is the near doubling of full-time staff, Morden said.

The arboretum has hired three new botanical gardeners, an education specialist, a horticulturalist, facilities manager and micropropogationist. There also are plans to hire a fiscal officer. Those positions are being funded with a half-million-dollar appropriation from the Legislature.

"I'm hoping as soon as we get some of the new staff positions filled that we'll be able to open on the weekends again," Morden said.

Currently the arboretum is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays through Fridays.

While the arboretum is forging ahead on plans to restore the site, the university continues its search for permanent leadership of the facility.

The arboretum's former director, Alan Teramura, resigned in May 2004 amid controversy over the management of the research facility. Three candidates, including current interim director Morden, are being considered by the university's leadership search committee, Ostrander said.

"We have lots of faculty in the Department of Botany and Agriculture who could and would use the arboretum and we'll look for a director that will be able to facilitate that," Ostrander said.

Morden acknowledges that changes and improvements are happening slowly, but he said the facility has come a long way since its closure.

"It's been baby steps. But after you get those baby steps done, you can start to take longer strides," he said. "As soon as we get these renovations done, things will really take off."

Reach Loren Moreno at lmoreno@honoluluadvertiser.com.