Community members have banded together to rehabilitate the Pupukea Beach Park basketball and volleyball court, which they maintain has been in disrepair for several years.

Residents and Malama Pupukea-Waimea, a nonprofit that seeks to sustain the natural and cultural resources of the area through stewardship and education, have forged a public-private partnership with the city Department of Parks and Recreation with a goal of raising about $125,000 for court reconstruction, a new chain-link fence and other improvements.

The 9,500-square-foot court at the beach park off Kamehameha Highway in Haleiwa has been closed for more than five years, according to the city. Residents describe the court as an eyesore, where grass and weeds have grown through the cracked pavement, the fence is rusted and the basketball hoop is missing. Malama Pupukea-Waimea will be responsible for raising all of the funds and has so far collected about $10,000.

The city has approved the reconstruction plans, which include removing and replacing the existing pavement and fencing, installing new volleyball poles and a basketball backstop, and repairing the existing rock wall, the city said. The project is not part of Mayor Kirk Caldwell’s E Paka Kakou initiative that refurbishes some aging and damaged park facilities. The Pupukea Beach Park restroom was refurbished in 2014.

“Since we have been encouraging private-public partnerships to help with our park improvements, we have increased the number of organizations helping with repairs and thus we feel have increased ownership and pride at those parks,” said Michele Nekota, city Parks and Recreation director, in a statement.

Sean Quinlan, the project’s fundraising coordinator, said the initiative will cost about $100,000 to $125,000, adding that labor and material donations have helped to drive the cost down. The fundraising effort kicked off this month and organizers hope to start work as soon as possible once they raise all of the money, he said.

“It (the courts) was a really vibrant hub for the community. It was a really safe and inviting place for both adults and keiki,” said Quinlan, a Haleiwa resident. “We’re trying to restore it to its former glory.”

Quinlan said the idea started with resident Michael Newman, who said he “was sick and tired of looking at an eyesore,” adding, “I remember the days when I was a kid here visiting from the mainland, people would be playing ball at night with the lights on. It gave you the sense that you were really in a community.”

Bob Leinau, a North Shore Neighborhood Board member who serves on Malama Pupukea-Waimea’s board, said the project is long overdue. A 48-year North Shore resident who lives about a mile from the court, Leinau recalled when he would spend much of his time as a kid playing ball at the court. He said he is looking forward “to bounce a ball around” when the courts are repaired.

“You just can’t look to the government for everything,” Leinau said. “If a community wants something, then the community needs to step up and help.”

City Council Chairman Ernie Martin, who represents the area, said in a statement that he hopes the “fundraising efforts are successful so the area residents can once again enjoy the use of a play court that was once heavily utilized, especially by teenagers and young adults.”

“The community was made to wait too long for these repairs, so we worked with them to come up with a way to fix this park,” Martin said. “Too many of our city parks are left to languish in embarrassing conditions and we hope this partnership will serve as a model for the city to get work done when the administration’s priorities do not align with the immediate needs of a community.”

For more information on the initiative, visit 808ne.ws/2a9x46c.