Don Ho park may be just the beginning
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Reader poll: Which would be an appropriate location to name for the late entertainer Don Ho? |
By Johnny Brannon
Advertiser Staff Writer
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Memories of Don Ho may be larger than a small Waikiki park that will soon be named for him.
A City Council panel yesterday agreed to rename the Beach Walk Triangle Park for the famous crooner, but ordered a study of other facilities that could honor him.
If the proposal is approved by the full council on June 6, as expected, the park at the corner of Kalakaua Avenue and Beach Walk will be called Don Ho Memorial Park.
A nonprofit group working with the city plans to launch a fundraising campaign and commission a statue of Ho for the site, said Michael Pang, executive director of the Mayor's Office of Culture and the Arts.
But the honors might not stop there. Fans have suggested many other locations they believe should be named after Ho, who died last month at age 76.
"This is the start of something that a lot of people will get involved in," Pang said.
Fans' suggestions so far range from the privately owned Waikiki International Marketplace to Honolulu International Airport.
The council's Public Health, Safety and Welfare Committee, which oversees city parks, yesterday rejected calls to immediately rename the Waikiki Shell outdoor amphitheater after Ho.
But the panel agreed that a range of possibilities should be evaluated carefully over the next year.
The Shell is a prominent venue, but Ho was more strongly connected with the Waikiki showrooms he performed in for more than four decades, near the park, the committee decided.
"There seems to be a lot of momentum to honor Don Ho appropriately," said committee chairman Donovan Dela Cruz.
Pang had asked the council to rename the Beach Walk park for Ho in time for his May 5 memorial service on Waikiki Beach. But several council members made other suggestions, and said such an important choice should not be rushed.
"I think we all feel more comfortable that we're making the right decision," Councilman Todd Apo said yesterday.
Reach Johnny Brannon at jbrannon@honoluluadvertiser.com.
Correction: Michael Pang's name was incorrectly spelled in a previous version of this story.
