Gift enables improvements to Diamond Head pocket park

GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARADVERTISER.COM
The City of Honolulu Department of Parks and Recreation says it will be adding LED lighting and more updates at Makalei Beach Park by the end of this month, as the result of a donation. Kiyo Matsuoka made her way along the Diamond Head sea wall on Friday afternoon.

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GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARADVERTISER.COM

The City of Honolulu Department of Parks and Recreation says it will be adding LED lighting and more updates at Makalei Beach Park by the end of this month, as the result of a donation. Kiyo Matsuoka made her way along the Diamond Head sea wall on Friday afternoon.

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After a major face-lift in 2015 and 2016, Makalei Beach Park is going to get a little more work done.

Last month, the City of Honolulu Department of Parks and Recreation installed signs in the city’s Makalei and Leahi beach parks warning of safety risks to pedestrians on the sea wall that links the two pocket parks.

The signs inform walkers of uneven pavement on the sea wall, waves breaking on the ledge, and alternative sidewalk access along Diamond Head Road: “The sea wall is not City jurisdiction, but the sidewalk is,” said Nate Serota, DPR spokesman, in an email.

Now, “thanks to a gift donation outlined in City Council Resolution 19-190, there are additional improvements slated to begin at Makalei Beach Park at the end of this month,” Serota added.

That includes LED light upgrades and a light pole replacement, a new drinking fountain and a replacement for the outdoor shower, he said.

The donor was real estate investor and neighborhood homeowner Jay Shidler, whose declaration of gift, valued at $169,457.17 was made to the Council and unanimously accepted in August.

The gift, made “absolutely and without condition or reservation,” was described as “Makalei Beach Park Phase II and supplemental park maintenance.”

In 2015, Shidler, who declined to be interviewed for this story, gave more than $500,000 to the city for an extensive renovation of the Leahi and Makalei parks, the latter having fallen into disrepair due to vandalism, littering, camping and riding of bicycles and motorbikes on the grass that produced a bald expanse of eroding dirt.

Prior to Shidler’s donation, neighborhood residents had spent several weekends cleaning the Makalei park and adjacent beach.

The gift provided the Makalei park’s approximate three-fourths of an acre with fresh grass, hibiscus shrubs and other landscaping, an irrigation system, wheelchair-friendly concrete walkway, low rock wall along the road, and weekly maintenance.

“We very much appreciate the donation of these park upgrades,” Serota said.

Neither park has restrooms or parking.