Pauoa kids petition city to build skate park

By Karen Blakeman
Advertiser Staff Writer

Manu Garcia and about a dozen friends wanted to ride their skateboards at Booth Park in Pauoa, and were looking for a few challenges that didn't include dodging cars.

They tried erecting ramps in the park, Garcia said. They got kicked out.

Then they put the ramps up in his yard. That sent them sailing into Pauoa Road, and the police came and made them stop.

One of the officers was nice about it, the 15-year-old skateboarder said. He asked at Booth Park if the boys could skate there. Park officials turned him down, too.

The policeman had a Plan B that didn't include sailing into a busy street. He suggested the boys put together a petition asking the city to build a skateboarding area in Booth Park.

The boys took him up on it, and a petition with more than 100 signatures should be turned in the mayor's office today.

Their pleas caught the attention of state Sen. Rod Tam (Nu'uanu, Downtown, Sand Island).

Tam held a press conference yesterday at Booth Park to call attention to the kids' request for a skateboard area in Booth, and the need for a mini park in Punchbowl. He said he would turn the petition in to the mayor's office today.

The skateboard area doesn't have to be a full-blown arena, Tam said.

Garcia agreed. "We just want the basic stuff, not the really hard stuff," he said.

Tam said he is concerned that so many children end up practicing on the street.

Children also skate by Pele Street, behind The Queen's Medical Center in Punchbowl, Tam said. The neighborhood is narrow, crowded, and allows them nowhere else to go.

Karl Rhoads, a member of the Downtown Neighborhood Board, said there is a lot in the area belonging to the state Department of Transportation, left over from H-1 construction, available for park space.

Rhoads and Tam said the department is willing to turn the lot over to the city for use as a mini park if the Department of Parks and Recreation will take responsibility for it.