Koko Head park upgrade plans canceled
By Suzanne Roig
Advertiser East Honolulu Writer
HAWAI'I KAI — Plans to renovate Koko Head District Park have been canceled by the city because the design could not be drafted by the time the financing lapsed.
The community had asked to spend $1 million given to its vision team and neighborhood board to build a stand-alone performing arts or meeting center, but after some initial studies, it was found to not be enough money. In July, the community agreed to use what was left of the money to renovate the aging facilities at Koko Head District Park.
"There just wasn't sufficient time to change the documents," said Carol Costa, city spokeswoman. "We will put it in the 2005 budget. We have to start all over again.
"That's what happens sometimes when things are changed. The time just ran out."
Mary Houghton, chairwoman of the Hawai'i Kai Neighborhood Board park committee, said she was disappointed that the project is not going to happen. After several public meetings, the community had decided to air-condition the park's meeting rooms used for adult aerobics, summer classes, martial arts and community meetings, and remodel a portion of the space for a teen center.
"The park is in bad shape," Houghton said. "There was no reason the plan couldn't get done, but some members of the neighborhood board didn't support the community's plan to fix it up. They wanted a performing arts center."
Costa said there are problems with the park's multipurpose rooms: Beams sag, roofs leak and doors don't slide. In addition, there is a wire cable that was installed to shore up the roof, Costa said. All of these things would need to be addressed in the renovation.
"It was a great disappointment to learn about this after we worked on the design of the performing arts center," said Lester Muraoka, a Hawai'i Kai Neighborhood Board member who spearheaded the committee to oversee the project. "The community now has lost its funding on all the work it did on the whole effort."
Koko Head District Park was built in the mid-1970s and includes multipurpose rooms, a gym, basketball courts, tennis courts, an aging playground structure, baseball fields and stunt bike trails. The park is on 59 acres of mostly undeveloped land. About two 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.
Reach Suzanne Roig at sroig@honoluluadvertiser.com or 395-8831.
