The city plans to reconstruct the irrigation system at Oneula Beach Park in Ewa Beach, but community members say funds should instead go toward a new comfort station.

“The No. 1 community want is a restroom in the central portion of the beach,” said Penelope Parnes, parks committee chair for the Ewa Neighborhood Board, noting the community has wanted a comfort station built in the middle of the park for decades.

“The current system is actually functional, so I’m not sure how this got moved up on the priority list,” she said of the irrigation project.

Construction bids for the $2.2 million reconstruction irrigation project at Oneula Beach Park, also known as Hau Bush, is slated to be advertised in the spring. Work is projected to begin in 2024.

Officials say the existing manual coupling valve system will be replaced with an automatic system with new piping, valves, sprinkler heads and an irrigation controller.

Acting Deputy Director Bryan Gallagher of the Hono­lulu Department of Design and Construction said a new 4-inch irrigation main will be installed, and 2-inch polyvinyl chloride lines will be used for the irrigation system at the 30-acre beach park.

Irrigation lines will be installed from the main parking area in the middle of the beach park to the smaller parking lot on the west end of the beach park and below the field.

The project also includes a new outdoor shower to be installed near the existing comfort station and a 6-foot-wide concrete walkway near the restroom.

Archaeological monitoring is expected to take place during the project for any findings of iwi (bones).

With a picturesque view of Diamond Head and slow, rolling waves, regular park users describe Oneula as a family beach for surfing, fishing and picnicking.

Mitchell Tynanes, chair of the Ewa Neighborhood Board, said it’s “where you can drive right up to the beach, back your car up and your’re right at the water.”

The beach park has a comfort station at the west end of the park, a long walk from the main parking area of Oneula, where the public parks to head to the beach. “You have to drive to Maui just to relieve yourself,” Tynanes said of the existing restroom.

A homeless encampment is seen near the comfort station.

At the main parking area is a single portable restroom and a beach shower.

Longtime residents recalled that baseball and football teams used the field at the beach park in years past. These days, residents say the field is unsafe for sports because the grounds are as hard a cement.

Some community members say they want youth to have the opportunity to use the field for sports.

Deputy Director Kehau­lani Puu of the Honolulu Department of Parks and Recreation said the agency looking into rehabilitating the field turf when the reconstruction irrigation project is completed.

Meanwhile, Puu is working with the department’s maintenance and recreation services to see what can be done now to improve the field, such as aerating the grounds. “This is some of the work that we don’t need to wait until the irrigation system is done,” Puu said.

While it would be great to make that ball field playable, Parnes said revamping the irrigation system wasn’t the community’s priority, as is a new comfort station.

The existing comfort station is just not in a good spot, she added, noting it’s too far of a walk from the main parking area. It’s frustrating, Parnes said, adding that the city is not listening to the community.

Nathan Serota, Department of Parks and Recreation spokesman, said reconstruction of the irrigation system is necessary because the existing manually operated system doesn’t provide the best coverage at the park. Staff have to physically connect the sprinklers to various water connections and irrigate in phases, Serota said.

Also, as a result of the city’s goal of reducing water use in the aftermath of the Red Hill crisis, staff are limited on the time of day they can irrigate the fields, he added. There also have been issues of the manual system being vandalized or stolen.

“A new system would be more efficient and automatic,” Serota said. “Installing it also gives us the opportunity to make more substantial surface improvements, with a more reliable irrigation system ensuring those improvements last longer and have a greater positive impact on the community.”

Kim Sakai of Waipahu, who grew up in Ewa Beach and surfs at Oneula weekly, criticized the project and questions whether it’s feasible.

How how does the city decide what is needed at the beach park when no one from the city visits the park and asks the community “what would work here?” said Sakai, 53, adding she would prefer that funds for the irrigation project be used to build a comfort station near the main parking area.

Serota said, “DPR agrees improvements to the park, and another comfort station at Oneula, would greatly benefit the park users. As much as possible, we try to work with local communities and their neighborhood boards to make kakou decisions.”

Building a new facility would require a separate project and significant research and permitting because of the beach park’s proximity to the ocean, he said.