A fundraising effort is kicking into high gear to bring a park to Waikiki, which has limited green space outside of Kuhio Beach and Fort DeRussy.

The Rotary Club of Honolulu is trying to raise $450,000 to partner with the city to turn a derelict lot into a gated green space and make good on a decades-old promise. Tall weeds, graffiti and litter cover the area now.

Waikiki resident Dave Benson, who is leading the club’s effort, said the plan is to transform the 35,840-square-foot site at 2551 Aloha Drive into a gated park with a walking path, local plants, trees, stools and large stones with etchings relaying the history of Rotary in Hawaii and of Waikiki. The park will be named Centennial Park in honor of the Rotary Club of Honolulu, which was chartered in 1915. A raised area is intended to be used for community activities like tai chi and hula performances.

“We’re moving forward, but we need the community’s help to do it. We raised $50,000 so far, but we need another $400,000 and we’d like to see that happen by July 1,” Benson said. “The first 100 donors who give $1,000 or more will be considered park founders, and we’ll put their names on one of the rocks.”

Once the park is fully funded, Benson said, construction would take about four months.

“We’re close to finally making the park a reality,” he said. “We’re hoping people in Waikiki will give since it will be in their backyard. We’re out knocking on doors, condominium associations and clubs. We want people to feel that they have a little skin in the game.”

The late William Lee Sweatt, a community activist, began pushing for the park after moving to Waikiki in 1997. Sweatt, who had the support of the Waikiki Neighborhood Board, led a drive to stop developers from building a tower or putting a parking lot on the square. After filing a 700-signature petition, Sweatt persuaded the city to buy the land for $2.57 million in 2003 and turn it into a park. However, lack of city resources stalled the project, and it was turned into a construction staging area.

Sweatt’s death in 2011 renewed community efforts to press the city to turn the lot into a community park. Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell agreed to the concept in 2013, but it took a public-private partnership to get the ball rolling again.

“The Rotary Club of Honolulu spearheaded the proposal to turn a vacant city lot into Centennial Park, and the city is counting on their investment to build, maintain and secure the park,” said city spokesman Jesse Broder Van Dyke. “The partnership calls on the Rotary Club to gift a majority of the work needed to create the park.”

Broder Van Dyke said the club has pledged to handle the park’s design, construction, engineering, landscaping and signage.

“The first work will involve the Parks and Recreation Department removing the current chain-link fence, removing unwanted vegetation and replacing the top six inches of soil,” Broder Van Dyke said. “Once the park is open, the city will also benefit from Rotary efforts to maintain the park and lock the gate at night.”

Benson said the Rotary Club will schedule regular volunteer cleanups at the park. The city will provide park maintenance along with water and electrical service for the park.

Benson said the park will be accessible to all but that camping will be prohibited. Park closure hours and a 6-foot-high fence are designed to keep campers out, he said.

“We won’t have any benches; we’ll have stools instead,” Benson said. “It will be a place of tranquility, but we’re also going to make sure that the park is filled with plenty of regularly scheduled activities, which will be a deterrent to campers.”

Rick Egged, president of the Waikiki Improvement Association, said the activity space and hula mound will be a “real asset to the neighborhood.”

State Rep. Tom Brower (D, Ala Moana-Waikiki) said he’s looking forward to the park finally coming to fruition.

“Discussions on the park began during the eight years that I was on the Waikiki Neighborhood Board,” Brower said. “Many in the neighborhood came before the board upset that it was being used as a storage area. It appears that Waikiki is the most densely populated area in the state, and the feeling was that we really needed a park.”

Waikiki Neighborhood Board Member Walt Flood, who represents the district where the park will be located, said it’s high time the community got its promised park.

“The heart of Waikiki really needs some green,” Flood said.