66 design projects get the ax

By Robbie Dingeman
Advertiser Staff Writer

Longtime Liliha residents say they're pleased to hear that Mayor Mufi Hannemann has canceled a plan to spend more than $330,000 to design a swimming pool along Lanakila Avenue because they'd rather see the city fix a nearby intersection.

Liliha resident Francis Nishimura stands at the intersection of Lanakila Avenue and Kuakini Street, where he would like to see an extension of Kuakini for safety reasons instead of the city's previous plan to build a swimming pool in the area. Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser

The community projects are among 66 design consultant contracts slated for cancellation by Hannemann because they don't meet his "do we need it, can we afford it" test.

Among the projects being killed across O'ahu are two swimming pools, various community centers and park improvements, new sidewalks and even renovations to the reptile and hippo exhibits at the Honolulu Zoo, according to a list obtained by The Advertiser.

The value of all 66 design contracts comes to $6.9 million, but the savings to the city could be less because of costs associated with cancellation. If all of those projects were to be designed and then constructed, the price tag would be even higher: $66.7 million.

Eugene Lee, deputy director of the city's Department of Design and Construction, said the projects are being reassessed by the Hannemann administration as part of its mantra to favor "need to have" projects over those that are "nice to have."

Some of the projects slated for cancellation are old; some, like the Lanakila pool, have faded as community priorities and others would cost too much to build and maintain, he said.

"We tried to take a holistic approach, and we tried to be reasonable," Lee said.

Besides the Lanakila pool, other bigger projects being canceled include a swimming pool at Mililani District Park, ballfield lighting at Salt Lake District Park, putting overhead utilities in Salt Lake underground and Wahiawa area redevelopment.

Earlier, Hannemann announced he was canceling $12.4 million in construction projects for similar reasons.

Liliha resident Francis Nishimura has been pushing for improvements to two intersections along Lanakila Avenue since the late 1970s. They are the intersections with Keola Street and Kuakini Avenue, which form two "T" intersections above Lanakila Health Center, below Maluhia Hospital and adjacent to Lanakila Elementary School.

Nishimura knows that some residents had pushed for more than 20 years for a swimming pool to be built in an empty corner lot next to the elementary school. But, he said, the neighborhood board rejected that plan after realizing that the pool would need to be built within 15 feet of the elementary school in an area that lacked parking and is dominated by a huge monkeypod tree.

He said the community's top priority is known as the Kuakini Street extension and would replace the two T intersections with one standard four-way intersection by building through an empty lot of the 'ewa side of Lanakila Avenue.

"It would be a lot safer," he said. "This has over the years been a top priority of this community."

City Council member Rod Tam said Hannemann's shift away from the pool was wise. "The community felt that the pool was nice to have but not a strong priority in the category of safety and health," he said.

Even if the pool could be built, he said the city is running short on money to maintain and operate the existing city pools.

Tam is pushing to put $1 million in the city budget to fix the intersection.

John Flanigan, a Kane'ohe resident and member of the advocacy group Friends of the Haiku Stairs, remains optimistic that canceling three design contracts worth more than $470,000 relates only to the fact that the city has not yet completed the land exchange with the Department of Hawaiian Homelands. The exchange is part of a plan to provide access to the scenic nature stairway.

It's hard to say what the cancellation means, he said.

"I'm not too alarmed by any of this," he said. "Until the land exchange gets done, they can't do anything yet. That money would probably just expire."

City Council member Barbara Marshall believes "there is huge support" for reopening the stairs even though there have been neighborhood complaints about hikers in the past. She said thousands of people back the project and she gets calls, letters and e-mail from across the world asking for progress reports.

She said she's disappointed to see the administration canceling the master plan because some $53,000 already has been spent on it based on community support.

And Marshall said she understood that the money for the restrooms at the trailhead already had been set aside for that use. While the project remains delayed, she's unhappy that the city is spending $1,500 a week for security to discourage hikers from going on the trail.

"I think it's just a terrible, terrible waste of money," she said.

Marshall worries that canceling some of the projects after they've already begun will also have a cost.

"I'd still like to know what the cost is of canceling," she said.

The city's Lee did not have an overall estimate of the cost of canceling the 66 projects. He said three already have been tagged for possible reinstatement. And he said the city was mindful of stopping a project that was close to completion.

"If there are other situations where we are two steps from home plate, then we would just continue," he said.

Reach Robbie Dingeman at rdingeman@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2429.