City considers sale of alcohol at 3 parks
By Robbie Dingeman and Karen Blakeman
Advertiser Staff Writers
The city is considering allowing alcohol sales in three city parks as a way to help pay for Honolulu's most popular — but expensive — sports facilities.
Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser
The plan, if approved by the council, would give private contractors the ability to sell alcohol and in exchange, the firms would take over maintenance and security costs at the parks. Alcohol is prohibited in city parks.
Central O'ahu Regional Park is one of three city parks where the City Council will consider allowing the sale of alcohol. The money from the liquor sales would be used to help maintain the parks, which have been expensive to maintain. A public-private partnership was proposed when the city's two newest parks were built.
City Council Budget Chairwoman Ann Kobayashi has introduced a bill that will be heard today that would specifically allow liquor sales at three O'ahu parks: Central O'ahu Regional Park, Waipi'o Soccer Complex and Hans L'Orange Park.
The parks are well-used but expensive to keep up, Kobayashi said.
At Central O'ahu Regional Park, maintenance is "close to a million dollars a year," she said.
In the community, reaction to the idea is mixed.
Mililani residents and neighborhood board members Laura Brown and Josie Kaanehe said they could see nothing good about selling liquor in parks.
"I just don't think it is good for young children to be around people who are drinking," Brown said.
"My personal opinion?" said Kaanehe, who also is a Honolulu police officer. "I can't see it.
"They can sell juice, soda, hotdogs, but alcohol? Whenever you have alcohol," she said, "you have problems."
Waipi'o Soccer Complex has 19 regulation fields, including a 5,000-seat stadium with lights for evening events. The complex covers 288 acres and is designed to serve the 30,000 soccer players on O'ahu and even host international tournaments in Hawai'i. Use of the complex is free to local youth soccer teams. The Waipi'o Soccer Stadium also is the home field for the University of Hawai'i women's soccer team. Central O'ahu Regional Park includes baseball fields, youth baseball fields, softball fields and five multipurpose fields for soccer, football and other sports, as well as an archery range and a tennis complex that features 20 courts, including two show courts: a sunken clubhouse court that can seat 1,100 spectators, and an exhibition-style court with capacity for 2,200. Hans L'Orange Park is a venerable baseball field in Waipahu that has served O'ahu for more than 80 years, hosting everything from youth games to state tournaments and semi-pro teams. Sources: City and County of Honolulu, Advertiser records
But Jack Sullivan, an early booster of soccer in Hawai'i, said he thought that allowing a concessionaire to sell alcohol in exchange for park maintenance sounded like a good trade and a means of building tourism through use of the park.
About the parks
Sullivan helped to organize the American Youth Soccer Organization here and was involved in the development of the Waipi'o Soccer Complex.
"I'm for it," he said. "We could bring in more teams. We could serve liquor until it started causing problems, then cut it off. The future is here before us — that place is the gem of the Pacific.
"Of course," he said, "it wouldn't be for youth tournaments. I don't think you could do that."
When the two newest parks were built, it was hoped they would be maintained through a private-public partnership such as is being proposed.
Several companies have expressed interest in the past but "it's never happened," Kobayashi said.
She said the companies said that allowing them to earn money through concession sales would be an important factor. "We don't pay them to manage the park, so they have to make back their money," she said.
Kobayashi said she has spoken with contractors and with other cities that have partnered with private companies to take over security and maintenance at parks by allowing them to collect admission at special events and get money from restaurants that serve alcohol and food.
"The other cities I talked to do allow the sale of beer," Kobayashi said.
She spoke with representatives from a company called Big League Dreams about the possibility of coming here and has visited one of the facilities in California that features a restaurant that serves alcohol and food set up amid a cloverleaf of baseball fields.
"This company charges $2 for adults and gives back half as a token at concessions," she said. Children are given free admission. And when there are no tournaments or special events, there is no admission charge.
Kobayashi said the three parks were chosen because large tournaments are being held there.
Since introducing the bill, Kobayashi has found that a specific change in the city ordinance is unnecessary to proceed because city officials already have the authority to allow the sale of alcohol under certain licensed conditions. But the council will take up the issue today anyway.
Mayor Mufi Hannemann could not be reached to comment on the proposal yesterday.
Reach Robbie Dingeman at rdingeman@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2429. Reach Karen Blakeman at 535-2430 or kblakeman@honoluluadvertiser.com.
