Island Voices
Turning Ala Wai into park a bad idea

By Gary Okino
Honolulu City Council member

Ever since the announcement late last year of the state's intention to retake control of the Ala Wai Golf Course to develop a park, debate and controversy have run rampant.

While proponents argued the need for additional urban park space for visitors and residents, opponents countered that the Ala Wai is a much-needed, appropriately located and well-used urban recreational facility.

As chairman of the City Council's Community Services and Parks Committee, I oppose development of a park at the Ala Wai and support retention, even improvement, of the existing golf course. The Ala Wai is used by local golfers of all ages (an average of nearly 500 players per day) and is the only municipal course in urban Honolulu.

Coincidentally, it is also the only course that turns a profit for the city. And local recreational needs in this area are served already by two major parks, Kapi'olani Park (with 154 acres) and Ala Moana (with 119 acres), as well as several smaller neighborhood parks.

Visitors to O'ahu also frequent these parks. But, as we all know, the reason tourists come to Hawai'i is not to stroll through inland parks. Rather, visitors travel many miles primarily to enjoy the greatest park of all, our beaches and ocean recreation areas, such as Waikiki Beach, Hanauma Bay, Kailua Beach and the North Shore.

As a professional urban planner, I acknowledge the value of urban open space, but my opposition to this proposal is based on an even more fundamental planning principal: restraining Waikiki's commercial sprawl.

If this park development proceeds, it will "break the dam" that now contains Waikiki, allowing commercialism and resort-type activities to flow into the surrounding neighborhoods of Kapahulu, Date Street, Kaimuki and McCully/Mo'ili'ili. That would be bad planning and the beginning of the end for these established residential communities.

Is this proposal really where we want to spend our scarce tax dollars? With both the state and county facing budget crunches, and our schools, sewers and roadways in dire need of repair, how can we justify spending millions of dollars to replace a well-used money-making golf course with an expensive, development-oriented park?

Let's not allow the allure of a promised "park" to jeopardize good planning and the peace and quiet now enjoyed in the adjacent communities.