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Residents envision
reclaiming Aala Park
from criminals
and homeless

Park planned for Smith, Beretania

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By Pat Gee
Star-Bulletin

Downtown residents hope to reclaim Aala Park once renovations are finished.

The renovations may be delayed two months until February, but that's OK with neighborhood leaders.

"The community lost the park to the homeless when they took over the park" and brought in prostitution and drug use, said Bernadette Young, chairwoman of the Kalihi/ Palama Neighborhood Board.

"It's been so long since people from all over could hang out at that park. If we can reclaim the park, the elderly can use it for tai chi in the morning," or to play card games, she said.

The first phase of the project will cost $2.3 million and will include a basketball court, softball field, parking lot, pahu (an elevated grassy area for a stage), playground equipment, grading and irrigation, walkways, lighting and landscaping, said Harold Mau, a civil engineer with the city Department of Design and Construction.

An existing restroom facility and electrical room will be maintained, as well as a historic structure (formerly a bathroom).

Concrete tables and chairs will be added to the structure, which is covered by a trellis, he said.

Mau said first-phase renovations were scheduled to be completed by December, but are delayed until February because they've unexpectedly had to realign walkways and clear existing trees for electrical lines.

In November or December the city will advertise for bids to construct the second phase, which will include a skateboard rink and fountain and is expected to cost $560,000, Mau said.

The neighborhood boards from Kalihi/Palama and downtown have been pushing for park renovations for several years.

Lynne Matusow, chairwoman of the downtown board, said there has been "a pent-up demand" for recreational facilities for residents in the area.

Now the "city will have to do a good job of selling" Aala Park as a place that's safe for children to come and play once again.

When the renovations are finished, "legitimate people can take back the park from crime elements whether or not they're homeless," she said.

Sun Hung "Sunny" Wong, executive director of the Chinatown Merchants Association and also known as the "Honorary Chinatown Mayor," said the park renovations are "a Band-Aid job."

"We wanted to make it a first-class place, a recreation center with controlled programs" for sports competitions like those Palama Settlement offered from the 1920s to the 1950s, Wong said.

"There are so many children out there," he said. "We have to take care of them.

"People won't come down to the park to play volleyball -- there's no incentive. They can play volleyball anywhere, but if you offer competition."

The Rev. Bob Marchant, executive director of the River of Life Mission on Pauahi and Maunakea streets, said renovating the park to discourage the homeless from camping there just "pushes them to other neighborhoods," such as Sand Island and Ala Moana. Many of them have already moved to those areas.

"Putting lights up doesn't deal with the problems of the homeless," he said.

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New park and
underground parking
planned at Smith
and Beretania

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Star-Bulletin

City Council Chairman Jon Yoshimura will ask the Council to allot $5 million to develop a park and underground parking lot at Smith and Beretania streets.

A parking lot now sits there. Block J and Associates was to place a park there to fulfill its park dedication requirements for a project at Pali Highway and Beretania Street but recently backed out of its deal.

Yoshimura said he decided to go ahead with the park, with funding support from the mayor.

According to Yoshimura's executive assistant, Dean Masuno, the park would be a "passive" one, though there is a possibility that one basketball court might be included.

Parking would not be fully underground, as originally planned, he said. Instead, the parking facilities will be partially lowered into the ground and the park above it will be "slightly elevated, which lowers the cost tremendously, and enhances the safety" factor so police can monitor the parking facility as they pass by, Masuno said.

Yoshimura felt obligated to create a park as promised 20 years ago as part of a park dedication requirement for the Honolulu Tower across the street, Masuno said.

But businesses in the area complained that parking was needed even more, so a compromise was reached to combine the two needs, he said.