Posted at 3:31 a.m., Saturday, May 12, 2007
Field of dreams taking shape at park on Kaua'i
Advertiser Staff
KAPA'A – Last month, portable bleachers were installed at the Kapa'a New Town Park and earlier this week, an Island-wide Fencing crew began erecting an 8-ft fence at the facility."They're scheduled to complete the fencing project by June 1 in time for Kapa'a High School's graduation, which will be the first big event held at the stadium," said Soncy Tamashiro, a member of the Leadership Kaua'i group that took on the challenge two years ago of facilitating the construction of a home field at the Kapa'a New Town Park.
The group, called Na Ha Ewalu or The Breath of Eight, includes John Cox, Michelle Lizama, Corey Nakamura, Char Ravelo, Matthew Taba, Tamashiro, Caroline Texeira and William Trugillo.
Tamashiro credits the efforts of a group of community members Larry Fernandes, Sherry Kunioka, and Cindy and Delroy Shigematsu, Kapa'a High School Principal Gilmore Youn and Athletic Director Greg Gonsalves who germinated the idea for the home field several years ago.
"We're working in partnership with them and the community on this project so Kapa'a High School and eastside sports teams will have their own home field," said Tamashiro.
After the graduation ceremony, additional work is scheduled to be done at the field including the installation of the scoreboard, goal post and permanent bleachers, along with re-paving of the parking lot.
"Our goal is to have the next phase completed in time for the KIF (Kaua'i Interscholastic Federation) football season," said Mel Nishihara, county parks administrator.
He noted that the seating capacity at the Kapa'a home field will be approximately 2,500 — about the same as Hanapepe Stadium.
Also in the works are locker rooms. Architects with Esaki Surveying & Mapping Inc. took a hard copy of the Hanapepe Stadium locker room plans and converted them to an AutoCAD file. The plans are currently being updated and adapted for the Kapa'a home field by architects with Agor Design Group and De Jesus Architecture.
"A lot of work on the Kapa'a home field is being done pro bono, including designing the locker rooms and irrigation and septic systems," said Tamashiro.
Last year, Kyle Oshima, owner of Tropical Trim, designed the irrigation system for the field. Utilizing the plan, Na Ha Ewalu organized a group of volunteers and a county crew who spent an entire Saturday digging trenches and installing the irrigation system.
M&E Pacific Inc. recently donated their design services for the septic system.
