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Group set to
protest Kapiolani
pond plan

They say Mayor Harris
told them it was too late
to change the plan

By Gordon Y.K. Pang
Star-Bulletin

Neighbors of Kapiolani Park were scheduled to gather there today to protest Mayor Jeremy Harris' plans to put a pond around the facility's bandstand.

Michelle Matson of the Kapiolani Park Advisory Council said that concerned residents met on Friday with Harris, who told them it was too late to change the plans for the $3.6 million project that began in September.

Said Matson: "It's never too late to fill in a hole in the ground which represents a public safety hazard."

Members of the Diamond Head/Kapahulu/St. Louis Heights Neighborhood Board also are opposed to the pond portion of the project and want it either removed or drastically reduced.

Matson said the pond poses a safety hazard for the public and a potential liability issue for the city.

Opponents of the plan also say that ironwood trees, some more than a century old, are being torn down to make way for the pond.

Further, Matson said, "we oppose the taking of usable park space the size of three house lots" for use as a pond.

Matson said it was appropriate for the protest to be held on Kuhio Day since the objections are to "the segmentation and destruction of historic features designed by the monarchy."

Members of the Harris administration could not be reached today. In the past, they have argued that a pond existed decades ago in the vicinity of the bandstand. The pond is supposed to be 18 inches deep and about 18,000 square feet with an island in the middle.

But according to Matson, the original pond was taken away because of safety and health concerns.

Matson and other opponents also feel the administration wrongfully processed the project by failing to do a separate environmental assessment.

The administration countered that the improvements are part of a master plan that received a special management area use permit in 1983.

Matson said the pond is a significant departure from that plan.

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http://www.co.honolulu.hi.us