Kailua park project expands

By Eloise Aguiar
Advertiser Windward O'ahu Writer

KAILUA — A swing set project for Pohakupu Park has expanded after planners learned that they wouldn't have to spend money to remove an old play apparatus and that the city would provide benches and tables.

The project, which has attracted a long list of contributors and supporters, will also have exercise equipment and a new pathway to the fountain, said Ann-Marie Medeiros, who is organizing the effort.

The plan couldn't have been done without the involvement of the numerous businesses, community organizations and residents, Medeiros said.

And with the project on the verge of being built, another key element fell into place when contracting company Kiewit Pacific Co. agreed to manage it at no cost, she said.

"Every time we find we have a missing piece of the puzzle, somehow it just falls out of the sky and plops itself right in," Medeiros said.

With the concrete strike over, the project will be able to move forward in May or early June and should take two weekends to complete, Medeiros said.

Play and exercise equipment at the park had deteriorated over decades and failed to meet modern safety standards.

Last year the city Department of Parks and Recreation removed the park's swings, much to the dismay of Medeiros, who used to take her 2-year-old son and 82-year-old great-grandmother to the park regularly for a ride.

The swings and exercise equipment were old and rusty and someone had complained about the hazards, Medeiros said.

"It was tetanus waiting to happen," she said.

Medeiros was inspired to replace the swings. After months of phone calls and pleas to local businesses and community groups, she amassed some $24,000 in cash and $18,000 in free material, labor and services.

At the time the plan was to replace a "dinosaur" play apparatus at the park and the swings, and to install a padded surface under the swings.

But the project soon began to grow, with the city deciding to kick in four park benches and four picnic tables, Medeiros said. Exercise equipment for adults was added and recently Medeiros learned that the dinosaur could stay. Some had thought the dinosaur wouldn't meet safety standards, but the city said it was OK, she said.

Money that was to be used to replace the dinosaur will now go to build a walkway from the fountain to an existing walkway that leads to the street, Medeiros said.

"It will really make it a family-friendly park," she said.

Reach Eloise Aguiar at eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com or 234-5266.