Over the past six years, the cost of vandalism to city parks has surged, dipped slightly and is on the rise again.
In fiscal year 2017 the Department of Parks and Recreation paid $201,584 to address vandalism in city parks and gardens. That number rose until it spiked in 2020 at $351,840, over $124,000 more than the previous year.
That number dipped in 2021 to $315,042 but rose again in 2022 to $339,393.
“Really, vandalism is a constant issue for our department, which comes in a variety of senseless acts: graffiti, clogged plumbing, damaged/broken bathroom fixtures, injured/destroyed trees, ruptured irrigation lines, or torched facilities (arson) to name a few of the more common cases,” said DPR spokesperson Nate Serota in an email.
“We have specialized maintenance staff who can address most of these issues quickly, but it does take them away from other scheduled maintenance, and requires the closure of a public resource belonging to the entire community until it can be repaired.”
The amount of money the city reported spending to repair damage from vandalism does not include big projects that require funds from the capital improvement plan. For example, the city paid over $337,000 to replace a comfort station at Kaiaka Bay Beach Park in Haleiwa after arsonists burned it down in 2014. The comfort station was not reopened until 2017.
A recent case of vandalism that would be included in the city’s vandalism repair count is the destruction of nine young trees in Mililani that happened Sept. 23. DPR estimated that it would cost $1,750 per tree to replant, including labor and maintenance costs, which comes out to $15,750 for all nine trees. The city prefers to replant trees because of the large amount of work done to decide where would be the most optimal area to plant the trees in the first place.
The arborists in the Division of Urban Forestry takes into account existing infrastructure, weather conditions, the already existing plant life in the area and the type of foliage that falls from the tree, when deciding where a tree should go.
“All of this to help ensure the tree has the best chance to thrive, and also that the community will appreciate the tree’s presence,” Serota said.
Honolulu Council member Augie Tulba, chair of the Parks and Community Services Committee, said he wants to see more positive activities in the parks to curb vandalism.
“For the last two years, our parks have been underutilized due to COVID restrictions. When park facilities are closed, it begins to attract unwanted squatters and illegal activities,” Tulba said in an email.
“I think it’s time to start opening up our park facilities and activating these spaces with programs and events. The more we utilize our parks and bring positive activities there, the less we will attract those who do bad things in our parks.”
The city currently uses different methods to combat vandalism, such as surveillance cameras, anti-graffiti paint coating, and locking certain bathrooms and parking lots at night. However, Serota added that DPR employees need the community’s help.
“Ultimately we need the help of the community to keep a watchful eye on our parks,” he wrote.
“These facilities belong to all of us, so when a facility is unavailable due to disrespectful treatment from the few, we all lose out.”
In the downtown/Chinatown area, APB Skateshop and American Savings Bank have both taken stewardship of Aala Park.
APB Skateshop owner Chad Hiyakumoto has been working on improving Aala Park’s skate park area since 2002. He watched as the graffiti at the skate park became worse and worse, until he decided that he needed to do something about it.
“I just got sick of seeing the graffiti. It became basically just covered in graffiti,” he said.
“I just thought it’d be nice to just reset this park and paint over it, but that’s a big undertaking.”
After some pushing, the city supplied him the paint, and he began to periodically cover graffiti, not only in the skate park area, but also the bathrooms.
“I was doing that for several years, and … it would always come back, there’d always be something. But the more I did it, the longer it would take to come back,” Hiyakumoto said.
“Then pretty soon it seemed like the more diligent I was, the faster I was to paint over it, the less likely it was to happen again.”
Hiyakumoto organized volunteers from the skate community to do graffiti covering as well.
Since Aala Park is one of the few skate parks in the city with lights, Hiyakumoto said it attracted a robust and positive skate community. However, the drug dealing and crime in the park have deterred some people from coming.
American Savings Bank, which has its campus across the street from Aala Park, did its first cleanup of the park in 2015 and has ramped up its involvement as the years have gone on. Since 2019 it has conducted more free activities like fitness classes, dog training and sports clinics.
It’s partnered with APB Skateshop for some skate workshops as well.
American Savings Bank’s campus also has 24-hour security, which the company said also helps to monitor Aala Park.
“Aala Park has historically been a place synonymous with high rates of homelessness and illegal activity,” said Beth Whitehead, American Savings Bank executive vice president, chief administrative officer, in an email.
“We’ve gladly seen more kids returning to the skate park, basketball court and playground. Neighbors are taking advantage of the dog park and there’s been a lot more positive activity and interest in hosting events there. … We’re told by neighbors and our partners at the city that vandalism has significantly decreased at Aala Park.”
Hiyakumoto is pushing the city to repair cracks in the skate park that have happened due to wear and tear as the area ages. However, he said the city can sometimes be hesitant to provide that type of maintenance. Depending on who is in charge of the park at the city, Hiyakumoto has had to re-explain the significance and benefits of skating at Aala Park.
“I think things like the self- policing needs to get a little more respected as far as the skate parks go, because we care about this thing. This is our passion,” he said.
“We’re doing it for the good of the skate community, and it’s really frustrating when they’re slow to react or hesitant and we end up … getting some kind of … negative feedback back from them.”
Hiyakumoto hopes that the city will consider expanding the skate park area, adding that he has never seen anyone use the baseball field area for an actual baseball game.
“I think skateboarding is the one thing that the city should recognize a little better, put a little more trust into the skate community and push for more skate parks,” he said.
“I think more things like that in parks on Oahu would be a great thing.”
PRICE OF VANDALISM
The city parks department’s cost to fix vandalism is on the rise.
FISCAL YEAR COST
2017 $201,584
2018 $234,680
2019 $227,175
2020 $351,840
2021 $315,042
2022 $339,393
Source: Honolulu Department of Parks and Recreation
