Question: When are the hot water heaters for city recreation centers/swimming pools going to be repaired or replaced? It is a problem in several recreation centers and has been so at least since last year. In Kailua we are entering the second winter of a swimming pool and dressing room showers with no hot water. This makes for shockingly cool showers before entering the pool and a very chilly time in the pool for the kupuna in water classes. Friends who use other rec centers tell me the problem exists there, too.
Question: My wife and I are senior citizens who used to use the swimming pool in Kailua. However, for the past eight months or so, there has been no hot water in the locker rooms, and I know a lot of folks don’t use the pool for exercise or for health reasons as a result of this. I called the pool attendant and asked if he knew when they were going to fix this problem, and he said he had no idea. Could you investigate this for us? I know a lot of older folks who use this pool for many reasons are staying away until the heater gets fixed.
Answer: This is a good news/bad news situation.
The good news is that the city Department of Parks and Recreation is working to replace all of the broken water heaters at various city pools, instead of repairing them.
The bad news is that it will be a while longer — probably not until February — before the heat comes back on.
It’s not certain yet how long it will take to purchase the new heaters, Craig Mayeda, administrator of the Parks Maintenance and Recreation Services Division, told us this week.
For the Kailua pool, bids to repair the heater were received early this year, but no funds were available at the time to do the work, he said.
Money became available in the new fiscal year, which began in July.
However, when bids again were sought, the bidders said that costs made repairs not worth doing and advised the city to "spend our funds on a new set of heaters," Mayeda said. "This is the direction we are working."
The new heaters will cost $30,000 to $40,000 each, depending on the work needed for installation.
At this point, new pool heat pumps are needed at the Salt Lake pool (thieves stripped units of copper wire), while new pool heaters are needed at the Kailua, Kalihi Valley, Palolo and Wahiawa pools. The hot showers are working at the Salt Lake, Wahiawa and Palolo pools.
Pool heaters and hot showers at the Manoa, Moanalua, Kaneohe and Patsy T. Mink Central Oahu Regional Park are all working, Mayeda said, while the hot showers are "OK" at the Waipahu and McCully pools, which are not heated.
MAHALO
To three Honolulu police officers. A couple of days after the tragic Sept. 13 accident in which a police officer was killed and another hospitalized while stopped on Farrington Highway, I experienced a potentially similar incident.
Traveling on the H-2 freeway just before the H-1 freeway merge, I had a tire blowout. I managed to get to the narrow left shoulder. AAA said it would take about 30 minutes for assistance but would call police. Within five minutes three motorcycle officers arrived, and officer R. Oh helped change the tire while the other two officers remained farther back with their motorbikes and flashing lights. As a senior citizen, I am thankful for HPD’s help as we were out of harm’s way within 15 minutes. God bless the officers. — W.M. Ikeda
MAHALO
To a true gentleman. On Oct. 19 my nearly 90-year-old mother and I stopped at Rainbow Drive-In to pick up lunch. As I returned to the car, another car pulled into the stall next to mine. I’m on crutches, and the driver saw there was little room for me to get into my car. He got out of his car and came to hold the food so I could get in. — A Grateful Senior Citizen
Write to "Kokua Line" at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu 96813; call 529-4773; fax 529-4750; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
