State, city want to raze Natatorium

Gov. Neil Abercrombie and Mayor Kirk Caldwell said Tuesday they support a plan to tear down the Waikiki War Memorial Natatorium in favor of a new public beach, although funding for the estimated $18.4 million project remains up in the air.

The facade, or archway, of the 86-year-old memorial — built as a monument to Hawaii’s World War I veterans — would be restored and moved about 50 feet mauka to make way for the beach. There will not be a beach volleyball court, as Abercrombie had once suggested. The governor and the mayor each made it clear there will not be any commercial activity on the site.

Under the plan, a partially completed $1.2 million environmental impact statement will be restarted and take about six months to be completed. After that, depending on funding, construction could begin by 2015, city officials said.

It has not yet been determined who will pay for the project. The governor and the mayor each said they will need to lobby the Legislature and the City Council, respectively, for funding next year.

Pearl City resident Maka­loa Yim, 21, said she likes the idea of more beach for the public. "As long as there is some kind of symbol to recognize the memorial," said Yim, who paddles a canoe in the area at least twice a week.

A contractor hired by the Department of Design and Construction had estimated that a full restoration of the facility would cost $69.4 million — too costly to be feasible, the city said.

The agreement is a major development in the decades-long tug of war between those who want to keep the Natatorium and those who say the dilapidated structure should be torn down and replaced with something more useful.

The facility’s swimming pool was closed in 1979 due to disrepair. Media allowed into the pool area after Tuesday’s news conference found large cracks, crumbling rocks and debris throughout the facility.

The project is being undertaken jointly because the pool and the rest of the Natatorium are on state-owned land while the land mauka of that is in city hands.

City spokesman Jesse Broder Van Dyke estimated that the new beach would be about 200 feet long, from the Diamond Head to the Ewa side, and 100 feet wide. Groins stretching from the two sides of the beach would help reduce sand erosion.

The facade would be moved closer to a large stone in the parking lot that bears a plaque recognizing the veterans, Caldwell said. "This is about honoring them and not dishonoring them with a crumbling facility that no one can use and is really an eyesore for everyone who stands anywhere in Waikiki and looks Diamond Head," he said.

Abercrombie addressed those who had have fought for decades for a full restoration of the Natatorium. "The plan that the mayor has come forward now with … is the only practical way that we can honor the memorial’s purpose," the governor said.

City officials said a task force established by former Mayor Mufi Hannemann voted to support a beach project like the one unveiled Tuesday.

Members of the Kai­mana Beach Coalition, who led the effort to have the pool torn down, as well as the Kapiolani Park Preservation Society and the state Office of Veteran Services, were on hand at Tuesday’s announcement.

Rick Bernstein, who heads the Kai­mana Beach Coalition, was near tears. "I am just delighted … that we can give this back to the ocean from where it came and still honor and bless all of the brave soldiers that sacrificed themselves on our behalf," Bernstein said.

Chip Fletcher, a professor in the University of Hawaii’s School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, said that "in a time where beaches around the state and around the world are experiencing a lot of erosion, it’s very insightful and forward-looking to see the city and the state building new beaches for the people to enjoy."

No representatives from the Friends of the Natatorium, which has long fought for full restoration, attended.

Peter Apo, head of the Friends group, said he was shocked and saddened by the news.

Apo said he wants the city and state to hold a two-year moratorium on proceeding with the beach plan to give his group and other supporters of full restoration the time to raise funds for such an endeavor.

Apo said the $69.4 million price tag quoted by the city is "way, way off base."

Apo said his group will fight the project as the city applies for permits to proceed.

"The city is open to state funding but is prepared to fund it if necessary," Broder Van Dyke said. He said a $2 million earmark appropriation that Abercrombie put into the state budget this session was shot down by the Legislature.

City Council Budget Chairwoman Ann Koba­ya­­shi said she’s happy the stakeholders agreed to the less costly plan, but said it should be funded by the state because it is on state land.

Councilman Stanley Chang, who represents the area, said he has not yet committed either way on the project, and wants meetings held to see how various stakeholders in the community feel about the project.

Hawaii Kai resident Cindy Kalama Sharp, 65, recalled fondly that the city would bus her and other kids from Papa­ko­lea to learn to swim at the Natatorium pool.

"Too bad they didn’t take care of it," she said. "It was a great place to grow up."

Sharp said she would have preferred a sand volleyball court, but recognizes there may be financial considerations.

Early last year Abercrombie had indicated a preference for turning the grounds into a beach volleyball facility. He acknowledged in December, however, that such a plan is not feasible. He reiterated those comments Tuesday.