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Kokua Line
June Watanabe
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Makiki Park restrooms get extra attention
Question: What can be done about the restrooms in Makiki Park (Makiki Street side of the park)? The men's room is nasty -- it never seems to be cleaned. I have never seen it hosed down. It is a disgrace to the area.
Answer: If you go to the park at about 8 a.m., you'll likely see that the restrooms are, in fact, cleaned regularly.
The time can vary, depending on what problems might be found, but those restrooms are cleaned by a roving crew every day at about 8 a.m., said Craig Mayeda, maintenance and recreation manager for the city Department of Parks and Recreation.
What happens after the cleaning crew leaves is another matter.
"This particular comfort station is open to the public 24 hours a day, seven days a week and subject to quite a bit of vandalism," Mayeda said.
Based on your complaint, he said, the supervisor for the area checked the restrooms "to give me a snapshot of a typical day."
A check late morning showed the comfort station to "be fairly clean, no smell."
However, two toilet dispensers were found burnt (they were replaced later that day), one urinal was clogged (things were tossed into it, so the line had to be unplugged) and there was graffiti on the walls (which was painted out that day).
The supervisor rated the comfort station at 90 percent.
That means it's not perfect, but in relatively good condition, Mayeda said.
Things should improve because the parks department is in the process of hiring a groundskeeper who will be assigned to Makiki Park. "This will give us the ability to check and clean this comfort station more often," Mayeda said.
More on Blackmore
Jeannie Chapman of Honolulu has shed more light on William Blackmore, not one of Hawaii's most notable artists, but one who nonetheless left behind a body of work that was apparently rather widespread ("Kokua Line," Feb. 6).
She said her mother, Suzanne Delaney, an artist, was a friend of "Blackie" Blackmore and his wife, Jeannie. Jeannie and their daughter, Judy, who was an artist herself, moved to Eugene, Ore., after Blackmore's death.
"Blackie loved it here and would never have left Hawaii," Chapman said.
She also recalled that he was a commander in the Navy, and he and his wife were in Honolulu on Dec. 7, 1941.
"Blackie had so many stories to tell, and he was so interesting I don't know why someone didn't write a book about his life," Chapman told us. "He originally came from Wyoming."
She said Judy had mentioned that she was trying to write a book about her father and was photographing the paintings that she could locate.
Chapman said she has one of Blackmore's oil paintings, plus four pen-and-ink sketches. She also donated another of his paintings, one showing a shack next to a "modern skyscraper," to Honolulu Waldorf School.
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.
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