Column: Community aided Ala Moana park plans

Ala Moana is arguably the most beloved park on all of Oahu, and so it’s understandable why regulars feel they need to protect this gem in the heart of urban Honolulu. However, contrary to what some opponents of the city’s master plan have said, the Caldwell administration has listened to the community since the beginning on how to improve the park.

Like everyone else, the administration is passionate about Ala Moana and that’s why the city embarked upon the most extensive public involvement process ever done for a park project.

Hundreds of people attended the very first public meeting on Ala Moana in March 2015 where this extensive public campaign, including an interactive website for gathering public comments, was unveiled. It was a huge success with over 30,000 interactions in the first week alone. This was followed by an invitation to over 300 individuals for smaller stakeholder meetings with park users, pedestrian groups, bicycling associations and representatives from city, state and federal agencies.

After this initial meeting it was clear locals love Ala Moana, but there was also anxiety since the timing of the project coincided with the gentrification of Kakaako. Occasionally, this anxiety resulted in misinformation about the administration’s plans for the park. However, the city listened to the comments it received and stayed the course focusing on three priorities:

>> Fix what is broken.

>> Better park maintenance.

>> Develop improvements with residents in mind.

During this administration, the City Council has approved approximately $50 million to implement improvements at Ala Moana. These improvements focused on the priorities raised by the public, including bathroom renovations, repaving the parking lot and road, beach sand replenishment, resurfacing the perimeter exercise path, new steel trash cans, a new irrigation system, renovations to McCoy Pavilion, park security, beach volleyball courts, and lighting improvements. The mandate was to “fix what’s broken,” and the administration did just that.

The city also bolstered resources by adding 15 permanent positions at the park and this has resulted in much better maintenance.

Meanwhile, during the four years of maintenance projects, the city developed a master plan based on the public’s ideas and completed an environmental impact statement (EIS). And on this point, it’s important to remember the park is on filled land with an artificial beach, so the EIS was viewed as going the extra mile. Such master plans provide a vision of where the park is now, what it should be in the future, and what is required to get it there.

Good master plans are flexible and involve the community and other stakeholders from the very beginning, which is what this administration has done. The park master plan improvements are broken into smaller projects that can be funded individually as supported by the community, or never built at all.

The city is proceeding on two improvements in the master plan that are very popular with local families: beach sand replenishment and a children’s playground.

>> Beach sand replenishment will add substantial sand to this artificial beach from the walking path all the way to water depths of 6 feet or less. It also includes a plan to actively maintain the sand for years to come.

>> As for the inclusive playground, it will not only accommodate children of all ages, but also those with disabilities. This is the perfect project for Oahu’s family park, and will be built with funds donated by local individuals and businesses.

Although this administration’s time is coming to an end in 15 months, this project was driven by the people. You love this park, and now it’s time to implement your ideas.

Chris Dacus was an executive assistant at the city Parks Department and project manager for the Ala Moana Regional Park from 2013 to 2016; he retired in 2016.