Police station site still occupied
By Suzanne Roig
Advertiser East Honolulu Writer
KAIMUKI — The on-again, off-again plan for an East Honolulu police station may have been resurrected and placed on the fast track by Mayor Jeremy Harris, but it still may be years before it's fully operational.
Harris announced in last week's State of the City address that the city would have an East Honolulu police station by the end of the year at a site at 22nd Avenue and Diamond Head Road presently occupied by the Hawai'i Army National Guard.
However, the National Guard doesn't expect to move until 2009 — five years from now. For that reason, the location had been rejected by a site selection committee.
City Managing Director Ben Lee said the station may not be fully up and running by the end of the year, but there will be a police presence there. Lee said details still are being hashed out between the city and the National Guard but he expects more information to be available next week
"It's pretty preliminary," said Assistant Police Chief Karl Godsey, whose bureau oversees new station construction. "We don't know how long that will take for them to move out. But we may be able to use the buildings or a portion of them."
Maj. Chuck Anthony, Hawai'i National Guard spokesman, noted that the Guard's dates are subject to change as it moves operations to Kalaeloa.
East Honolulu has been lobbying for a station for nearly a decade, making it the community's No. 1 priority in recent years. It's the only police district on O'ahu without its own station. Currently, the district's operations are based at the main police station downtown.
First, police were going to build a station behind 'Aina Haina Elementary School, but the land proved to be too rocky and costly to prepare for construction.
Then in 2000, a task force of private citizens, police representatives and City Council members looked around the district, considering seven potential sites. They were looking for a suitable location for a station where administration and support personnel would be based and where residents would go when they need to speak to an officer.
A site in Hawai'i Kai on Keahole Street near Roy's Restaurant was chosen in 2001. The city drew up blueprints for a 15,000-square-foot building to house administration, field operations, booking/holding operations, investigators, special programs, locker rooms, physical fitness facilities and a meeting room.
The city spent $900,000 on blueprints for that station, but it didn't get built because construction proposals came in too high. The city was forced to revamp the plans and provide money for the project again in last year's budget.
Meanwhile, police decided they weren't keen on the Hawai'i Kai site. They wanted a site nearer to the center of the district, which spans from Makapu'u to Punahou.
The money allocated for the Keahole Street station, about $5.5 million, can be used for the 22nd Avenue site, Lee said.
"I don't know what we'll end up with (at the new site), but it won't require the same kind of money for constructing a new building," Assistant Chief Godsey said.
Some residents of East Honolulu are unhappy with the decision to put the station on 22nd Avenue.
"We're very disappointed," said Lester Muraoka, a Hawai'i Kai resident and member of the Hawai'i Kai Neighborhood Board. "It's been in the works for three or four years. We had a number of community folks involved in the early selection and then they made the decision to move it. It's very disappointing."
Police have always said they wanted a station near major roads, with access to the freeway and a high visibility. The National Guard site fits that bill, Godsey said. It also has room to park about 100 cars and has a refueling center that the city may be able to use for other departments as well.
The National Guard buildings are about two miles from H-1 Freeway and are centrally located in the district. Surrounding the armory are other government and community buildings, a cemetery and a dog park. The nearest residence is across Diamond Head Road from the armory and down the road near a cemetery.
Jane Hong, who lives in the neighborhood across from the armory, was happy to hear the mayor say a station would be built near her home. She says a police presence will deter criminals.
"I think having a police station here will be good because I've been burglarized before," Hong said. "It might deter people from burglarizing the neighborhood."
Reach Suzanne Roig at sroig@honoluluadvertiser.com or 395-8831.
