Ka'a'awa Beach Park to get new bathhouse
By James Gonser
Advertiser Staff Writer
One of the busiest stops on the Windward coast for both tourists and residents is about to get a major face-lift — the comfort station at Ka'a'awa Beach Park.
• To comment on the Ka'a'awa Beach Park project, write to the city Department of Design and Construction, 567 S. King St., Ninth Floor, Honolulu, HI 96813. Attn.: Wesley Obata. • The deadline for comments is Dec. 9. Include two copies for the project consultant and the state Office of Environmental Quality Control.
The city last week filed a draft environmental assessment for the $1.1 million project, which will include a new comfort station and bathhouse, parking lot, wastewater and irrigation systems, wheelchair access and landscaping.
To comment
The existing comfort station, built more than 50 years ago, is in bad shape and soon will become a public hazard and be closed if not replaced, according to the report.
Sunny Greer, a Ko'olauloa Neighborhood Board member and vision team advocate for the project, said the community fought hard to get the money.
"It is a very highly used and undermaintained park," Greer said. "(The work) is long overdue."
The city said the new bathhouse will provide a permanent restroom facility for beach visitors and motorists, a changing and showering facility for park users and an equipment storage area.
The proposed improvements were developed through the community vision process and are being paid for in the city budgets for fiscal years 2002 and 2003.
Construction is expected to begin in early 2003 and be completed within six to nine months.
Project consultant Russell Arakaki, with Park Engineering, said the new bathhouse will be built on the same spot as the old one, so restrooms and showers will not be available during construction. However, areas not under construction will remain open. Exact dates have not been set for the work, he said.
"The construction period may change so it is not closed during the summer," Arakaki said. "That is still being discussed at the city. We are hoping to get some input during the assessment review process."
Ka'a'awa, a low-density community of single-family homes, has about 1,400 residents. On weekdays the primary users of the park are tourists brought by buses to use the restrooms. On weekends it is primarily used by the local residents, who throw horseshoes, fish, kayak, swim and picnic in the park.
The work will replace the existing wastewater treatment system — a gravity-fed storage tank that requires emptying monthly — with a septic tank and leach field, according to the report.
The small parking lot will be moved to the Kane'ohe side of the park and will lose four of its seven stalls. Because the park is between Kamehameha Highway and the ocean, people can park on the roadside.
An existing paved area and the parking lot will be torn up and planted with grass and other salt-tolerant plants, including naupaka.
The beach park improvements will meet access requirements of the Americans With Disabilities Act, according to the city.
This replacement bathhouse will be within the required 40-foot shoreline setback. Construction will begin only after an archaeological inventory with subsurface testing has been done and if no historic sites are found.
