Posted on: Sunday, May 29, 2005

EDITORIAL
Let's give Ko'olauloa the parks people need

A study identifying a shortage of recreational facilities along the Windward coast underscores a critical need in the communities that stretch between Ka'a'awa and Kahuku.

The Ko'olauloa district needs not only a gymnasium and swimming pool, but also meeting rooms and new playing fields. Many more children might be accommodated in athletic programs if there were more fields for practices, and everyone would benefit from the availability of more sheltered places to meet and play.

The steep pricetag for facilities surely will force the city to go slowly as it ticks down the wish list, but well-planned investment in enhancing youth activities and in the health of communities represents wise public policy.

Borrowing from the mayor's phrasebook, significant parks improvements here rank as a "need to have" essential, not a "nice to have" amenity.