Mayor Harris backs
Natatorium fix
The city will make "health and safety" repairs to the Waikiki War Memorial Natatorium, Mayor Jeremy Harris said yesterday.
The work on the 1929 memorial to World War I veterans needs to be done, Harris said, because "it's falling into the ocean. It's a health and safety issue. We don't want some kid crushed by a concrete slab."
The city closed restrooms in the renovated portion of the Natatorium in May after a section of the pool deck collapsed, leaving a crater near the bleachers on the mauka side.
Harris did not specify yesterday how much safety repairs would cost. He said money is still available from the $11 million the City Council approved in the late 1990s for a full restoration of the Natatorium's building and saltwater pool. He said $4.6 million has been spent so far.
The pool restoration has not happened because of a judge's ruling that the pool would have to meet state Health Department standards and because of the Kaimana Beach Coalition's opposition to the project.
At a City Council Budget Committee meeting Aug. 10, members were told that structural repairs could cost $6.1 million. The city has received engineering reports from two firms that the entire structure is at risk of collapsing and that work should be done to shore up the pool deck.
Budget Chairwoman Ann Kobayashi said she expects the Natatorium to come up at a special budget meeting today.
Kobayashi said she questions whether spending $6.1 million just for structural repairs without restoring the pool makes sense. The memorial "has been a health hazard for 25 years, so why spend the money now if it's not going to accomplish what they want to accomplish?"
Harris insisted yesterday that the only two options are repairing the entire pool or seeking permission to tear down a historic structure -- something he does not think will happen.
"The law says the pool is the memorial. ... The pool itself is protected," Harris said. "To fix it or not are the only two alternatives."
He called suggestions to convert the former pool into a volleyball or some other venue "political shibai."
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