Question: Those of us who live and work in town really enjoy passing by the beautiful "Fisherman’s Fountain" across from the Fasi Municipal Building. For more than a month now, this iconic water feature has not been working. Why isn’t the fountain running, and when can we expect to see it operational again?
Answer: The fountain at the Triangle Park convergence of King Street, Kapiolani Boulevard and South Street was turned off and drained July 9 after a major leak was discovered.
An initial inspection revealed a large crack in the plaster and a tear in the plastic membrane, said Westley Chun, director of the city Department of Facility Maintenance.
"A more detailed assessment will be performed by the end of August to determine what will be needed to fix the fountain," he said.
Until then he couldn’t predict when the fountain would be running again.
The fountain’s centerpiece is a sculpture described by the city as "Hawaiian Netmender — Ka Mea Ku’i ‘Upena" ("The Person Who Stitches the Net").
According to information posted by the Mayor’s Office of Culture and the Arts, the sculpture was created by Charles Watson in 1988 and features a figure of a male mending a net. The figure sits on a natural boulder, placed in a manmade pool, with a waterfall part of a landscaped fountain.
Watson was a colorful figure himself, a former president of Hawaiian Dredging and Construction Co., who became a prominent sculptor in his second career. He died in 2002 at age 86.
In an obituary published in the Star-Bulletin, reporter Pat Gee said that Watson, through Hawaiian Dredging, "helped build the Ala Moana Center, the Ilikai Hotel, the Aloha Stadium, the reef runway and other landmark structures. As a sculptor, he decorated the islands with dozens of pieces, ranging from the dolphins adorning Sea Life Park to the helmets at Halekulani, that paid tribute to Hawaiian culture." (See is.gd/xODb98.)
Among Watson’s public art pieces are the "Pua Honua" stylized flower at the Blaisdell Arena moat; the "Giraffe" at the Honolulu Zoo elephant exhibit; and the "Tree" at Foster Botanical Garden.
BROWS Now Online
The city Department of Parks and Recreation has posted an updated list of its BROWS — beach rights of ways — on its website, is.gd/0VyT47.
However, the list of 87 sites, which are tied to the city’s beach access areas where Emergency Response Locator signs are posted, give only a general location. For example, 134-C (Kahala Avenue at Elepaio Street) and 87-B (Kaimalino Street). In many cases there is no designated street address for the rights of way.
Another four locations recently identified as rights of way are awaiting signs.
Among them is "Ko Olina Lagoon and Roadway Easement," which a parks official said has been confirmed with the city Department of Land Utilization as a designated easement area going back to 1995. But the exact locations there — one or more — still have to be identified. Once that happens, signs will be made and posted, the official said.
Public access to the manmade lagoons at Ko Olina has been a sore point within the community for years (see is.gd/2vFyx2). It’s not yet clear what the newly identified public rights of way there mean.
Once all 91 locations have been identified by the Ocean Safety and Lifeguard Services Division and signs made and posted by the parks department, they will be linked to locator maps. At that point the online list will be updated, allowing people to click on maps to see the exact location.
There’s no target date for when that will happen.
MAHALO
To the person who found my check at the Ala Moana satellite city hall and turned it in to the cashier. I had dropped it while going to pay for my auto registration. — A Senior
Write to "Kokua Line" at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu 96813; call 529-4773; fax 529-4750; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
