Volcanic Ash: Posh Ala Moana play area zip-lining to fast approval

The fast track appears to be on for a developer-promoted “world-class” playground at Ala Moana Beach Park featuring zip lines, water slides and splash pools.

At the end of its recent eight-hour meeting on vacation rentals, the City Council quietly removed its objection to the privately funded playground from a resolution opposing several elements of the Caldwell administration’s Ala Moana master plan.

The resolution is without legal weight, but the tacit endorsement helps the controversial 1-acre playground advance by signaling the Council won’t stand in its way.

The nonprofit group spearheading the playground, which has ties to developers of the Park Lane luxury condos across the street from the park, hopes to start construction this year. Mayor Kirk Caldwell has said he’ll “help expedite permits so this can get done as quickly as possible.”

Members of the Save Ala Moana Beach Park Hui are alarmed by the rush to install a Disney-like feature in a park long cherished for its open beaches and green space.

They think the park is special as it is and want the city to better maintain what’s already there instead of gentrifying the “People’s Park” for condo developers who advertise proximity to Ala Moana.

Opponents who waited through the late Council meeting to testify said the playground was a late entry in the master plan and received little review from either of two environmental impact studies on the project.

Diane Choy Fujimura called the proposed playground “a coordinated behind-the-scenes effort of the city administration and the people with money — the haves — vs. the have-nots.”

“We’re not opposed to that playground being open to everybody,” she said. “It’s the placement and location of that playground. It’s the scale of that playground. … It has no place in Ala Moana Beach Park.”

She suggested it be located near the Children’s Discovery Center in Kakaako as part of the city-state effort to revitalize the homeless-ridden area.

Playground promoters stress its accessibility to disabled children, but opponents counter that Ala Moana and Magic Island beaches are among the island’s safest and most accessible for all children.

The original Council resolution that passed the parks committee opposed the playground, as well as a proposed beachside promenade, reconfigured parking, a dog park and sand replenishment.

But after receiving numerous emails from playground supporters — many copied and pasted from talking points circulated by promoters — the Council removed the playground from its list of opposed changes and added a paragraph citing the project as free to the city and open to all.

Six of the eight members present expressed various reservations, but the bottom line was an 8-0 vote keeping it on a fast track.

Money talks in this city and Council members listened.

Reach David Shapiro at volcanicash@gmail.com.