Kakaako’s state-owned Mauka and Makai Gateway parks, home to a persistent group of homeless encampments, are now closed indefinitely for repairs and a cleanup.

Notices that went up on the park’s coconut trees say the parks will be completely closed at least until Aug. 15 “or until further notice.”

“As of July 5, the parks are closed, period, 24/7, ” said Lindsey Doi, spokeswoman for the Hawaii Community Development Authority, which controls the parks. “We understand that this isn’t going to solve the homeless issue by any means. But we do have to rehabilitate that park.”

Steve Scott, an HCDA board member, said he hopes the closures will help put an end to the near-constant presence of encampments, which have created public health and safety hazards including an attack on state Rep. Tom Brower a year ago.

“To me, it’s a good thing,” Scott said. “It was an eyesore. It prevented people from going down there. Those parks are for all of the people.”

But for the next several weeks, the parks will be closed to everyone in order to trim coconut trees, fertilize the lawns and repair broken sprinklers.

Doi said the cost of repairs is included in the HCDA’s maintenance contract.

Normally, the people who sleep illegally in Mauka and Makai Gateway parks pack up and move each time the city and state arrive at the scene for a sweep. Homeless individuals then return the following morning to a newly cleaned park.

The city and state teamed up to prevent homeless people from simply walking across Ala Moana Boulevard to wait out sweeps, which forced them to walk nearly a mile Ewa in front of Waterfront Plaza or across the street in front of Homeland Security.

On Wednesday morning, the first day of the around-the-clock park closures, a knot of tents greeted the sunrise in front of a Homeland Security office and were gone by late morning.

“I know that,” Scott said. “That’s what’s unfortunate. They seem to be locating down Nimitz Highway. It’s not good. Hopefully they’ll get the picture that it’s a lot of hassle to keep moving daily and they’re going to have to seek out shelter. There’s room for them.”

People who were living illegally in the parks were given notice of the impending park closures on June 26 and were offered social service programs, including shelters, said Scott Morishige, the state’s homeless coordinator.

“Some individuals had relocated prior to the start of the maintenance closure,” Morishige said.

The closures do not apply to nearby Kakaako Waterfront Park, which the Hawaii Community Development Authority also controls.

And that worries Scott, who fears some homeless people will simply walk next door and set up camp.

“It is a concern,” he said.

But as of Wednesday, there did not appear to be a noticeable uptick in Waterfront Park’s homeless population.

Scott said HCDA officials determined that Waterfront Park was not nearly as damaged as Mauka and Makai Gateway parks and does not need to be closed.

Morishige said talks continue with the city to allow the city to enforce its separate stored property and sidewalk nuisance ordinances on state land that it uses to keep city sidewalks clear of homeless encampments.

One proposal would allow the city to enforce its ordinances on state-owned Ala Moana Boulevard and Nimitz Highway from Atkinson Boulevard to Sand Island Access Road.