New Sunset Beach center gets go-ahead

By Eloise Aguiar
Advertiser North Shore Bureau

SUNSET BEACH — Construction on a long-awaited community center in Sunset Beach is expected to begin this year now that an environmental assessment has cleared the way for the $1.3 million project.

The Sunset Beach Recreation Center will replace a one-room portable building next to the Pupukea Fire Station. Only one group at a time can use that center, which limited the number of activities in the community, said project booster Chip Hartman.

Hartman suggested the project for the community's vision team three years ago. For years, he said, people had expressed a need for a new center, and when no one else came forward, he stepped in because he realized city planners didn't know the area.

"I'm a resident who knows which way the wind blows, how it rains and where the water comes from," said Hartman, a firefighter.

Replacing the portable building will allow for expanded programs and activities, he said. Moving the center to Kahawai Beach Support Park across Kamehameha Highway will open space, including parking, for beach users.

Kathleen Pahinui, North Shore Neighborhood Board chairwoman, said the project has wide community support. The board endorsed the project when it was proposed, Pahinui said.

The 5,617-square-foot multi-purpose building will include rooms for meetings, arts and crafts, physical education and community programs. It will accommodate up to 166 people.

The center, which will be at the intersection of Kamehameha Highway and Kahae Road, also will have a courtyard garden and a view of the ocean. An administration office, public restrooms, kitchen and a room for police, if they need it, also are part of the plan.

The Sunset Beach Recreation Center was one of the first vision projects proposed by the community in 1998, when Mayor Jeremy Harris initiated the program that gives communities an opportunity to decide on $2 million worth of capital improvement projects for their area each year.

An environmental assessment, published last week, has found that the Sunset project will have no significant impact on the environment.

The city must now obtain a special management area permit.

A contractor must be found for the project before the end of the year or financing will lapse, requiring the city to resubmit the project in the following year's budget.