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Gathering Place
Carolyn Walther |
Palolo gets ‘ugly stepchild’
treatment from the cityPalolo Recreation Center, with its field, gym, tennis courts and pool, is a blessing for this valley. All of these facilities are always busy -- but not the pool. Not this summer. Not for months.
Before last November the pool was in nearly constant use. The morning would find seniors and arthritis suffers in water exercise classes, at mid-day the lap swimmers (25 meters) and the serious lap swimmers (50 meters, including me), in the afternoon the children's after-school programs and swimming team and in the evening, another session for serious lap swimmers. One of only a few 50-meter pools, the Palolo pool was well utilized.
A sign on the gate of Palolo Valley District Park pool says it all. The pool has been closed since last November.
A notice was put up saying that the pool would close for repairs on Nov. 28, 2003, and was expected to reopen Feb. 27. Wow, what good news! A refurbished pool after 30 years, that would be really nice. The pool closed and workers began taking the pool apart. Very shortly thereafter, everything stopped.So the regular pool users patiently waited and waited and waited. April came and went and still nothing. Then on May 4, a letter to the mayor and Parks and Recreation Director William Balfour brought some action for about a week. That was it. The work again was abandoned. Timothy E. Steinberger, director of the Department of Design and Construction, responded with a June 4 letter. It said the pool would be pau by June 11, before the city's Summer Fun programs were to begin June 23. However, Steinberger was skeptical, "The city will be exploring all avenues within the contract to get this problem corrected."
As usual Palolo is the ugly stepchild of the city. Had this pool been in Manoa, Kahala, or even Hawaii Kai -- higher income neighborhoods -- there would have been no delay. To further demonstrate this point, Kaneohe, Kanewai and Booth District Parks have priority over Palolo. Those pools are re-opened. Today, the Palolo pool waits in waste. Is the city waiting for the pool to deteriorate beyond the state of repair? Is the intent to get rid of the pool so the money can be spent on projects in a higher income neighborhood?
As of this date, the pool remains deserted and filled with debris. The residents of Palolo deserve equality to Kaneohe, Kanewai and Booth neighborhoods. Many of our World War II veterans have made Palolo there home. The 2000 census revealed that Palolo has the highest aged population per capita. Like me, many have a need for exercise that is kind to their joints. Our children need to have a place to learn how to swim, as so much of our recreation is in and around our ocean.
At what point and time will the city begin to show respect for all its residents, not only the wealthy?
Carolyn Walther is a Palolo community volunteer and was a regular user of the Palolo Recreation Center pool.
For more information on the extended closure of the pool see the Star-Bulletin's June 7 story at:
starbulletin.com/2004/06/07/news/story6.html
