Maui County last week bought Waiakoa Gym, a longtime recreation center and meeting place for Upcountry Maui.
The county bought the property from Maui Federal Credit Union for $1.2 million.
In 1970 the county started leasing Waiakoa Gym, which was built with community donations in the 1930s.
“That gym has been an invaluable resource for everyone Upcountry for the last half a century or more,” Mayor Alan Arakawa said in a statement. “I played basketball up there after school; so did all of my friends. And we didn’t use it just to play sports, they held meetings, youth programs, church events, you name it. Purchasing the gym was definitely the right thing to do.”
Arakawa said he hopes the County Council will allocate money to upgrade the gym “so we can make sure it can be used for at least another half-century.”
Vehicle sparks Kahoolawe fire
Maui firefighters battled brush fires on Maui and Kahoolawe on Saturday.
At 2:52 p.m. dispatchers received calls from people in South Maui who reported seeing smoke rising from Kahoolawe. A Maui Fire Department helicopter pilot confirmed about 15 acres of brush and kiawe on fire, and another helicopter was dispatched to assist in dropping water on the fire.
The fire, which was found to have been started by a vehicle’s catalytic converter, was fully contained by 6:20 p.m.
Shortly before 4 p.m. firefighters were called to another brush fire, near Baldwin Park in Paia.
A crew from Paia and a Kahului water tanker were able to bring the 1-acre fire under control by 4:15 p.m. The fire was extinguished by 4:46 p.m.
The fire’s cause was not determined.
