Waikiki Aquarium groundskeeper awarded President's Buildings and Grounds Maintenance Award

University of Hawaiʻi
Contact:
Arlene Abiang, (808) 956-5637
External Affairs & University Relations
Posted: Jul 30, 2007


HONOLULU — The University of Hawaiʻi has selected Roy Hanzawa as the 2007 recipient of the President‘s Award for Excellence in Buildings and Grounds Maintenance. The award honors UH employees who exhibit dedication and sustained superior performance in a maintenance, landscaping, custodial, shop or trucking position.

As the sole groundskeeper at Waikīkī Aquarium, Hanzawa is responsible for the lawn areas and shrubbery on the grounds of the popular visitor attraction. He has vast experience and expertise in groundskeeping and has contributed to the consistently high aesthetic value of the surroundings.

Local residents and professional landscape gardeners alike refer to the Aquarium lawn as a ʻgreen oasis‘ in Kapiʻolani Park, thanks to Hanzawa‘s efforts in raising the level of beautification in the area. His research and ingenuity have resulted in lawn seeding, watering and pest weed eradication procedures that have saved hours of efforts and money.

Beyond his duties at the Aquarium, he gave expert advice to the City and County of Honolulu who resurfaced the entire Kapiʻolani shoreline with sods of the same strain of salt resistant grass Hanzawa installed on the Aquarium grounds.

Andrew Rossiter, Waikīkī Aquarium Director shared, "Roy performs his job with great enthusiasm and great pride, and always goes the extra yard to ensure tasks are addressed in a timely and effective manner."