Buffalo Keaulana:
You have to have a park keeper.
If you don't, people come at night
and break toilets and scratch
and paint on the walls.

City planner Don Griffin's vision of the park includes developing the Kaena end of the park with a comfort station and a tall lifeguard tower to give them a good view beyond the lineup when the waves are big. There would also be a large parking lot and a major crossing area with lights to make it relatively safe to cross Farrington Highway.

The current beachfront parking would be eliminated.

The land in the middle of the parcel is a wetland area where the Makaha Stream crosses the property, and is unsuitable for development. But plans call for picnic areas on the Waianae end of the property, and another comfort station later.

Buffalo Keaulana has his own ideas. "The main thing about any park, you have to have a park keeper. If you don't, people come at night and break toilets and scratch and paint on the walls."

Dennis Gouveia would like to see something like the Haleiwa Surf Center, with a place for lifeguards to store their lifesaving equipment and rooms for community water safety classes.

He also envisions a way to channel people heading from the parking area to the beach in an area where lifeguards can give them information on the hazards of Makaha Beach, such as waves and currents, and to tell those with kids to stay on the safe side of the beach away from the shore break.

"It would be wonderful to have a canoe hale and beach volleyball sand courts," says Rell Sunn. "We can dream forever, but we have to do something now."