County to keep Wailuku pool open

By Christie Wilson
Advertiser Neighbor Island Editor

WAILUKU, Maui — The Old Wailuku Pool will remain open to schoolchildren and neighborhood kids after Maui County signed an agreement to buy the half-acre property for $700,000.

The county was facing a July 31 deadline to buy the pool from Market Wells Hui II LLC, which had wanted to build a six-story office building on the site.

Third-graders from Wailuku Elementary School who walk to the pool for swimming lessons had sent letters and petitioned county officials and testified before the county council to keep the pool open.

The property on the corner of Wells and Market streets was owned by the county before it was traded in 1984 for a nearby parcel of equal size to use as parking for the Wells Park tennis courts. The county has been leasing the pool lot for $1 a month from the Market Wells Hui, which is made up of several local families.

"This old pool is the place where many of us learned to swim, and where our children are now learning to swim," said a statement issued by Mayor Alan Arakawa. "It is perfectly located in the heart of our community, close to both 'Iao Intermediate and Wailuku Elementary schools. Given the community's sincere desire to maintain the public pool at this location, we negotiated the county's acquisition of the property for the fair-market value."

The Maui County Council appropriated $700,000 for the acquisition. The county was unsuccessful in its bid to get the state to pony up half the cost since two public schools hold classes at the 25-yard pool, which has been a community fixture for at least 60 years.

The agreement for the county acquisition is in escrow, pending the council's approval of the transaction.

The agreement calls for the deal to be completed by Aug. 29.