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Gathering Place
Steven Baldridge |
With ‘drop-in’ pool
natatorium might live
to splash another day
Authorized and budgeted repair of the historic and beautiful Waikiki War Memorial Natatorium has been delayed and put at risk because of opposition by a small special-interest group protecting its "turf" at Kaimana Beach, but a solution that meets objections is available.
The natatorium restoration was a well-thought-out project that had gone through appropriate public review and approval by a majority of City Council members. Ultimately, the Kaimana Beach Coalition, not the city, is to blame for the current delay and the additional costs that the public will eventually bear.
Various proposals have been advanced as alternatives to repairing the natatorium, but they are not truly feasible. However, there is a great opportunity, using modern technology, to save the natatorium, utilizing the budget currently set aside by the city for the project and overcoming the coalition's objections.
The structure of the natatorium can be repaired and a new pool dropped into its shell. We have performed design studies for a similar concept at the Hilton Lagoon Reef attraction. Pile supports placed internally in the pool can support a contained "Myrtha" pool. The Myrtha technology was used this summer in Long Beach, Calif., to build two 50-meter competitive pools for the U.S. Olympic trials for less than $2 million. This would alleviate concerns about water quality and at the same time provide a world-class facility.
The War Memorial would be completely restored. The new pool would be a catalyst for youth learn-to-swim programs, competitive local swimming teams and triathalete training. Hawaii would be able to begin to restore its Olympic prominence in aquatic sports.
With no legitimate reason to stop the repair of the natatorium, the coalition concocted concerns about safety issues with "ocean" swimming pools to create a legal reason to delay repair. This was not really about safety but rather an act of selfishness by a few Kaimana Beach users who do not want more people using "their" park. If there was a donor tomorrow who would pay for full restoration, including a crystal-clear filtration system, they would still take every legal measure available to stop the project.
Their lawsuit prevented the city from performing necessary repair work several years ago when the extent and cost of repair would have been significantly less. In the meantime, deterioration, as it occurs naturally with all of the city's infrastructure, has made the situation much worse. This is a problem with all government projects, not just the natatorium. Small special-interest groups can unfortunately often find ways to stall projects resulting in huge added expense that the rest of us eventually pay for.
After all of the years of delay, there is still really no alternative to at least repairing the structure other than the Myrtha pool. Some of the unworkable options presented include:
>> Tear it down and restore the beach. The natatorium is on the "National Register of Historic Places" and can not be torn down.There is, however, a great opportunity, utilizing the budget currently set aside for the project -- drop a new pool into the natatorium's shell.>> Preserve the arches and tear out the pool. Approval of this alternate, because of the historic significance of the natatorium, is not likely. Even if it were, loss of the pool walls would expose Kaimana Beach to the natural ocean currents. Over time the sand at Kaimana Beach would erode. The beach eventually would be lost.
>> Allow the natatorium to crumble into the ocean. At some point the deteriorating structure would truly become a hazard to neighboring Kaimana Beach.
>> Fill in the natatorium with sand. The sand and silt bottom under the natatorium is fairly deep, compressible and soft. The added weight of the sand would compress this material causing differential settlement.