Posted on: Friday, July 1, 2005
Repairs leave swimmers hot, dry
By Robbie Dingeman
Advertiser Staff Writer
With three of Honolulu's largest community pools closed on the eve of this summer holiday weekend, city officials are pushing hard to fix the pumps so urban swimmers can be back in the water as soon as possible.
Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser City spokesman Bill Brennan said the Manoa pool could be open as early as this afternoon. There are other pools in the same district, but both Palolo and Manoa pools are big and well-used, especially during the summer when summer-fun, swim classes and students with free time join the regulars at the pools each week.
People in Palolo are tired of finding the "closed" sign up at the big, inviting pool. Dahlia Asuega said she thought the summer of 2004 would be the last time that the neighborhood pool would be closed because of mechanical problems.
"I cannot believe they shut down the pool again," Asuega said. "That's a lot of wasted money. It's frustrating."
Asuega, who works for Mutual Housing at Palolo Valley Homes, said 300 families there feel the heat without the pool.
"It's hard for the kids to keep cool," she said.
Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser City official Clifford Lau said engineers are working with contractor KD Construction to get the work done quickly. Yesterday, the company tried to put in the new pump and found that work was needed on adjacent parts, he said. So they pulled the pump to do more work and hope to re-install it today.
Early in the day, Lau thought the repair might be delayed for weeks but updated that estimate to a day or two after consulting with the contractor.
City Parks and Recreation Director Lester Chang said officials know the public wants the pools open and said he's working to make it happen.
"School's out and it's hot," he said. "We're asking them to do everything they can to get it going by this weekend."
Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser "It's unfortunate; it's something that happens," he said. "Now we have to fix it."
Last week, Council Parks Committee Chairman Charles Djou questioned Chang about perennial pump problems. But Chang said the problems at the different pools are unrelated and that the city works to prevent the inconvenient closures by keeping up with maintenance.
Palolo pool manager Jason Nunogawa said the timing of the broken pump has been especially tough this year. He said 100 kids had signed up for swim classes that had to be canceled.
Regulars left without their pool include senior-citizen exercise classes, lap swimmers and summer-fun program children. "Summer, that's when it's hot and everybody wants to swim," Nunogawa said.
If pool repairs drag on, Chang said he would consider opening other pools in the evening or expanding hours to help make up for the time lost at the closed pools.
To find out when the city expects to reopen two of its most popular urban Honolulu pools, call:
• Manoa pool at 988-6868 • Palolo pool at 733-7362 For a complete list of the city's 20 swimming pools, go to www.co.honolulu.hi.us/ City Design and Construction Director Wayne Hashiro said the Palolo pool work is still under warranty, and the repairs are being done at no cost to the city.
Hashiro explained that the motor for the pump blew out after a Hawaiian Electric Co. power outage. He said the construction company had to get parts from the Mainland.
Chang said the McCully pool needed to be closed because of repairs to the building.
"We closed it in May and hope to have it open by next summer," he said.
Reach Robbie Dingeman at rdingeman@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2429.
Swimmers are stranded as Palolo's city pool closed for the third week in a row because of a broken pump, Manoa's pool closed all week for the same reason and the pool in McCully closed until next summer for renovations.
The Palolo Valley District Park Swimming Pool is closed because of a broken pump and could reopen as early as tomorrow. But Dahlia Asuega, who works at Palolo Valley Homes, will believe it when she sees it. "We'll see," she said. "I won't hold my breath this time."
When she heard the latest estimate yesterday afternoon — that the pool could open as early as tomorrow — she said: "We'll see. I won't hold my breath this time."
Pool custodian Irving Wong, second from left, helps construction workers Castor Razos, left, Romeo Casuga, third from left, and Alberto Crodua lift a broken pump and motor mechanism from the pump room at the Palolo Valley District Park Swimming Pool.
Chang said the pumps breaking down at pools within a few miles of each other was purely a coincidence.
Dahlia Asuega of Palolo Valley says it's hard for neighborhood kids to keep cool without the Palolo Valley District Park Swimming Pool, which has been closed for three weeks in a row. "I cannot believe they shut down the pool again. ... It's frustrating," Asuega said.
Last year, extensive renovations — delayed repeatedly — kept the Palolo pool closed until September. Nunogawa gets some idea of the community reaction by listening to the phone ring in his office as people check for progress. "It seems like I have a phone call every five minutes," he said.
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