Posted on: Monday, December 20, 2004

Park plan requires legal scrutiny

By Suzanne Roig
Advertiser East Honolulu Writer

HAWAI'I KAI — City officials say they have to answer some legal questions before deciding whether a nonprofit group is allowed to build a wellness center at Koko Head District Park. The proposal also has caused some concern for residents who say such a facility violates the mission of the park.

"There is no precedence for a nonprofit using a park space," said City Managing Director Ben Lee. "There are nonprofit groups using city buildings for senior centers, but they're open to everyone."

Hong Liu, a master healer with the Natural Healing Research Foundation, is proposing to build the center, the first in Hawai'i for Liu. Currently, he operates out of a series of rooms at the Hawai'i Athletic Club in town.

Liu said his plans call for an open-air tentlike structure on the old Job Corps site of Koko Head District Park, nestled at the base of Koko Head. He said he would offer classes in wellness, health, exercise and nutrition for free. He chose the park because it is close to town and offers views of both the sunrise and the sunset.

But the city's Department of Parks and Recreation director, Bill Balfour, said the city is only interested in proposals that are oriented to park and recreational use for the city parks. Normally, if a program is run in a city park or facility, the city puts out requests for proposals and chooses an operator, who pays a fee. For example, the beach-boy operation in Waikiki and the snorkeling concession at Hanauma Bay pay a fee to the city.

"The next administration will have to deal with this one if the project is formalized," said Carol Costa, city spokeswoman.

City Councilwoman Ann Kobayashi and Councilman Donovan Dela Cruz are supporters of Liu's Qi Gong method of healing and support the concept of wellness and exercise. They appeared at a community meeting in November to show their support of Liu's proposal. The concept of a wellness center is not different from classes that are held at the parks now and can pay for some improvements that are sorely needed for the park, supporters say.

However, some residents were concerned because the concept of a healing/wellness center is not part of the master plan for the 59-acre park, a plan that the community developed with the city. Most of the park is undeveloped land. There are several ball fields, tennis courts, a basketball court, several rooms and a gymnasium.

About three years ago the community and the city spent considerable time and money developing a 20-year plan for the park. The plan called for improvements including a 50-meter swimming pool, a teen center, expansion of the baseball fields, a new playground and disc golf. A community center was not part of this master plan, but the upgrades to the park and a teen center are.

But there is no money in the city budget for any of these improvements.

"We thought it might be a good idea for the park," Kobayashi said. "It would be a different kind of park. I believe that there's opportunity for wellness centers at the district park."

She acknowledged that in order to go forward, the proposal would have to go through proper city channels.

"The only downside is the sounds from the shooting range on the other side of the crater," she said. "But the area is a perfect place to do something like this. "We could always remove the tents when the city is ready to move forward with the master plan."

Reach Suzanne Roig at sroig@honoluluadvertiser.com or 395-8831.