Move proposed Ala Moana playground to Kakaako park, City Council member Kobayashi says

Instead of building a proposed 1-acre children’s playground with a zip line and water feature at Ala Moana Regional Park, the city should build it at Kakaako Waterfront Park near the Hawaii Children’s Discovery Center.

That’s the suggestion of City Council member Ann Kobayashi.

A resolution introduced by Kobayashi, which requests the city find alternatives to Ala Moana Regional Park for the playground, was passed unanimously Tuesday by the Council Committee on Parks, Community Services and Intergovernmental Affairs.

Resolution 19-263 states that “many in the community have expressed concern that the proposed playground does not match the local character of Ala Moana Regional Park.”

The 119-acre “People’s Park,” which opened to the public in 1934, “was planned to be open space, green space,” said Shar Chun-Lum of Save Ala Moana Beach Park Hui, who testified in favor of the resolution. “We appreciate what has already been done to the park — fixing bathrooms, irrigation, road repair — but local people love it as it is.”

Park regulars opposed an earlier proposal for the expansion of a walkway and removal of parking spaces along the park’s oceanfront drive; the proposal was ultimately dropped from the city master plan promulgated by Mayor Kirk Caldwell.

In a phone call Tuesday evening, Kobayashi said that while members of the public expressed a strong desire to preserve the tree-studded, grassy space stretching between the Diamond Head concession area and the Hawaiian Pond, where families and community groups congregate for picnics, birthday parties and weddings, she also learned from testimony at hearings and community meetings that “people aren’t opposed to a playground” elsewhere in Kakaako.

In testimony, both proponents and opponents of the proposed playground liked its inclusive design, which would provide accessible equipment for children with disabilities.

Her choice of an alternative site, Kobayashi said, would be Kakaako Makai, where ownership of 41 acres of parkland is slated to be transferred from the state Hawaii Community Development Authority to the city.

“People are hopeful that maybe the playground could go near the Hawaii Children’s Discovery Center in Kakaako Waterfront Park, so we could share security in the area,” Kobayashi said.

Committee Chairwoman Heidi Tsuneyoshi agreed. “I believe it would be a win-win, coming after many hours of discussion among community members who are not opposed to an inclusive park, but want to keep our historic park,” she said.

“For Honolulu, one specific thing that makes us unique is we find value in green space; it’s important to our lifestyle,” Tsuneyoshi added.

Resolution 19-263 will be voted on by the full Council at its next meeting, at 10 a.m. Nov. 6.

From 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, partnering groups Save Ala Moana Beach Park Hui and Malama Moana will host an Ala Moana Beach Park Pop-up Rally at Zone 9 behind the Diamond Head concession, in the area for which the playground development is proposed.

The purpose is to inform the public about the proposed playground and other concerns with the city’s Ala Moana Beach Park Final Master Plan, and what people can do to help preserve the park, including writing their Council members, Chun-Lum said.

“A lot of people never heard the full plans to begin with, and now there’ve been several environmental impact statements and a final environmental impact statement,” she said, adding that the nonprofits had considered challenging the final EIS in court because, among other reasons, it didn’t address potential impacts on the sewer infrastructure from the playground’s proposed restrooms.

“The bathroom the city just renovated on the Ewa side cost about $900,000, and two weeks after it was finished, it was closed because the sewers were backing up, I was told,” Chun-Lum said.

In the end, the groups have chosen “the people’s power route” over litigation, she added, “because we don’t have the money to sue, and if I use my own dollars, the mayor would use my taxpayer dollars to fight me and drag it out.”