Posted on: Wednesday, August 1, 2001

Editorial
Park dollars can't all go to maintenance

While there are signs that Hawai'i has eased out of its long economic slump, the lingering after-effects continue to be felt.

Staff writer James Gonser reported on one such after-effect this week: the generally rundown condition of city and state parks.

Poor conditions are not the result of deliberate neglect. Rather, they are the natural result of deferred maintenance and shrinking budgets for overworked parks departments.

The numbers tell the story: Both city and state parks budgets declined in the middle to late 1990s as tax revenues dropped.

Some park users are questioning efforts by both levels of government to add parkland and facilities even as they struggle to maintain what is already in place. This is a legitimate question, but the state and city cannot think only for today. When an opportunity arises to create major new pieces of public recreational land — whether it is the Ka Iwi shoreline in East O'ahu or the new Central O'ahu Regional Park in Waipahu — it must be seized.

In an increasingly urbanized and crowded O'ahu, every square inch of park space is valuable. Both city and state park budgets have begun to grow once again, so the hope is that long-deferred maintenance to older parks can take place along with the acquisition and development of new recreational areas.