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Kokua Line
June Watanabe
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McCully gym could reopen this summer
Question: The recreation center and pool at McCully District Park have been closed for the past 11 months for renovations. I really miss going there to play basketball or swim a few laps at the pool. What is the status of the renovations and when will the facilities reopen?
Answer: The gymnasium may reopen this summer, but the pool will remain closed until late 2007 or later.
Last summer, when we explained why the park was closing (Kokua Line, Aug. 11, 2005), we were told the target completion date for the gym was May.
Although work to reconstruct the gym is approximately 50 percent complete, "unforeseen conditions" were encountered during demolition.
"We are currently negotiating a revised completion date with the contractor that will likely take the completion date to around July," said Eugene Lee, chief of the city Department of Design and Construction.
The gym will reopen "sometime thereafter."
Design is under way for Phase II of the project, which involves reconstructing the pool. The city administration is asking for $1.76 million in its fiscal year 2007 capital improvements budget for the pool project.
Assuming the City Council approves the request, Lee said the project could be put out to bid later this year.
"Barring any major hiccups, a very tentative projection of when the pool construction would be completed is the latter part of 2007," he said.
Other park improvements mentioned previously, such as adding a new recreational area, improving the arts and crafts building and/or adding parking, look doubtful.
Other funding sources would have to become available, Lee said.
Auwe
The City and County of Honolulu grumbles about how much in the hole they are with its budget, then it leaves the tennis court lights at Ala Moana Park on all night! On March 6, it was on at 11 p.m. and was still on at 5 the next morning. It's just like their message to conserve water, while they water the medians and road on Ala Moana during a rain storm. -- Keith
The city Department of Parks and Recreation has been having problems with the lights there, said Craig Mayeda, the department's maintenance and recreational division administrator: "The lights are on timers and some of them are more finicky than others."
In some recent cases, the lights were off when they were supposed to be on -- just the opposite of what you observed.
Mayeda said the department's Ala Moana maintenance supervisor and city electricians have been working on the problem over the past month.
"The public can assist us in solving this problem and others at Ala Moana by contacting our maintenance supervisor at Ala Moana at 973-2020 when they observe problems," he said. Meanwhile, "we will continue to monitor these lights until we figure out the problems."
Got a question or complaint? Call 529-4773, fax 529-4750, or write to Kokua Line, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., No. 7-210, Honolulu 96813. As many as possible will be answered. E-mail to
kokualine@starbulletin.com.
See also: Useful phone numbers