Waterfront park needs ‘active uses’

A happy side effect of the Hawaii Community Development Authority’s push to create a master plan for more "active use" of the Kakaako Waterfront Park is that it forestalls a dubious proposal for a commercial light display on a chunk of the park.

The idea for the master plan emerged after the unsolicited LED-lights proposal came from Illuminage Group Inc., as well as for other park-land uses such as a volleyball academy, art incubator and preschool.

Clearly, this is desirable real estate — so HCDA has approved spending up to $600,000 for a consultant to devise a master plan and environmental impact statement for Kakaako Waterfront Park and two nearby smaller parks; work is expected to take 18 months.

It would be money well spent if the plan remains true to the ambiance of Honolulu’s oceanfront, and provides HCDA with a judicious blueprint for directing "active uses" of the parks, instead of reacting to developers’ scatter-shot proposals.

While it is true that the Kakaako Waterfront Park (KWP) is currently underutilized, it could be a wholly different situation 10 or so years from now, when denizens of Kakaako’s new skyscrapers are hankering for park greenery and open space. That is crucial to consider as the HCDA and its consultant consider optimal uses for the 30-acre KWP — an oasis of gently rolling hills intersected by a half-mile pedestrian promenade with expansive ocean views. After all, the vision for uber-urbanizing the Kakaako area includes some 30 new towers in an aggressive buildup of ultra-luxe condos and other housing mixed with commercial and retail uses.

If ideally realized, Kakaako could become a vibrant "live, work, play" district with a huge influx of new residents and other inhabitants.

Against such projected development, green space, open vistas and natural respite become even more valued. Preserving the Kakaako Waterfront Park — and the nearby Kakaako Makai Gateway and Kewalo Basin parks — within walking distance of all that concrete might prove a truly inspired decision in a generation’s hindsight.

A parks master plan for the area is not new. In 1999, the HCDA spent $315,000 on a blueprint for a "one-of-a-kind urban park." Adopted in 2000, that vision included boating lagoons, an expanded swimming cove, an amphitheater, a flying carousel, a civic plaza and public art. A dramatic entry of water jets was to produce a wave in which children could play. But all this was shelved in 2004.

Fast forward to today, and it’s admittedly difficult to resist the temptation to monetize and magnetize the park. There’s nearly $1 million in annual upkeep, efforts diminished by the increasing clusters of homeless people overtaking the pavilions and other spaces. Having more "active uses" there could help deter the loitering.

As HCDA struggles with this, models can be taken from other waterfront parks that have achieved an inspired balance — Seattle’s Olympic Sculpture Park, for example. Surely, though, whatever emerges must reflect Hono-lulu’s sense of place; a public- oriented harmonious use, not a 9-acre LED-lights theme park that restricts access in favor of paying guests.

For now, Oahu residents and others earnest about preserving this slice of public paradise need to realize that the best way to guard against excess commercialism and despoiling of Kakaako Waterfront Park is quite simple: Go down there and use it.