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Kokua Line
June Watanabe
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Staff can no longer use closed McCully pool
Question: McCully Recreation Center has been closed for more than a year due to construction, but in late June I noticed about 10 people regularly swimming in the pool there. I contacted the Parks Department and was told that it is a staff training for the Summer Fun program. If it is safe enough for that many staff members to swim, why can't the department make arrangements so that the public can use the pool safely? If there is a liability issue, isn't that the same with the summer fun staff members?
Answer: The "so-called staff-training swim sessions has ceased immediately," Dana Takahara-Dias, deputy director of the city Department of Parks and Recreation, told us last week.
The department was not aware that the pool was being used until we inquired about it, she said.
It will remain closed to the public during the current Phase I work on the recreation center and throughout Phase II, which entails reconstructing the pool.
"With the demolition of the bathrooms and the required facilities for the use for the pool, the pool cannot be used by the public," she said.
Meanwhile, the center's gymnasium remains closed as well.
A year ago ("Kokua Line," Aug. 11, 2005), we explained that major structural work was being done to the pool and gym "to rectify potential life safety hazards."
The gym initially was targeted to reopen last May, after the $1.18 million Phase I stage of the project was completed. Phase I entailed separating the gym from the pool, then reinforcing both to make each structurally sound.
However, the gym also remains closed because "unforeseen additional structural damage" was found, Takahara-Dias said.
At this point the Department of Design and Construction puts the expected opening of the gym at "mid-2007."
But there is still no target date as to when the pool will reopen to the public.
Q: How does one replace a lost Social Security card?
A: Call the Social Security Administration at 800-772-1213 and ask that an application for a replacement card be mailed to you.
Or you can download an application form -- Form SS-5 -- at www.socialsecurity.gov/online/ss-5.html and either mail or take it and the required documents proving your identity to the nearest Social Security office. For replacement cards, proof of U.S. citizenship/immigration status and age are not required if they are already on file.
On Oahu the offices are at Prince Kuhio Federal Building, Room 1-114, 300 Ala Moana, Honolulu 96850; and Halekuai Center, Suite 201, 563 Farrington Highway, Kapolei 96707.
It costs nothing to replace your Social Security card if it is lost or stolen, but you are limited to three replacements in a year or 10 during your lifetime. Replacements needed because of legal name changes or changes in noncitizen status do not count toward these limits.
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