Posted on: Saturday, October 23, 2004
Cafeteria Mall invites Castle lunch bunch
By Eloise Aguiar
Advertiser Windward O'ahu Writer
KANE'OHE — After three years of planning, raising money and waiting for other projects to be completed, Castle High School will have new seating for the lunch crowd in its Cafeteria Mall.
Once a dusty and sometimes muddy courtyard, the mall has been transformed into a green garden with tables and chairs to seat about 100 students, thanks to the hard work and $100,000 in donations of time and material from 18 private contractors, alumni, students, faculty and community residents.
The Cafeteria Mall project will be dedicated this morning at 10:30 a.m.
"A lot of students came to help out over the weekends and a lot of pride was instilled within the project," said Laine Higa, president of the Knights Executive Board.
Planned by Castle High School's Ultimate Site Committee, the project was done over six weeks, with volunteers working after work hours and on Saturdays. Some 114 volunteers participated including 28 students, said Higa, adding that members of the student council and football team also showed up.
Landscape architect and Castle alumnus John Mossman planned and coordinated the construction, working with Oliver Kupau, an alumnus who was instrumental in lining up the contractors, said Cory DeJesus, Department of Education Windward District business and facilities manager.
"They were so willing and so generous," DeJesus said. "We're so very fortunate."
The project included grading work that would eliminate mud puddles in the area, installing 10 tables with five seats each, building two keystone walls for added seating and planting flowering and ti plants and palm and guava trees. The remaining site, which is 36-by-86 feet, was covered with grass.
Castle has more than 1,800 students and the cafeteria seats 450. Although lunch is served in two shifts, hundreds of students were forced to seek other places to eat, including on the ground.
Reach Eloise Aguiar at eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com or 234-5266.
