WAIMEA — Standing on the sun-kissed slopes of Parker Ranch, you could almost hear the happy sounds of future children at play, as a group of community, county and state officials came together Monday for a groundbreaking ceremony for the county’s newest planned park.
A dozen officials and community leaders dug their o‘o into the red dirt of Waimea and vowed to see the project through completion. It’s hoped the first phase will be complete by next fall.
The park is one of 48 projects funded with a $99.75 million bond issue proposed by Mayor Billy Kenoi and approved by the council in June. The state, largely from the efforts of former Sen. Malama Solomon, D-Waimea, and former Gov. Neil Abercrombie, has kicked in $6.5 million for the project, while the county has committed $18.5 million.
“Every good thing that happens to benefit Hawaii Island, it’s because of people who work together,” said Kenoi, who is term-limited and leaves office in December 2016 and praised the work of community leaders saying it’s important that progress be made on the park before he steps away. “Politicians may come and go, but the community stays forever. … Today’s groundbreaking is about tomorrow.”
Mel and Page Macy were the community members most involved in getting the project moving, most speakers at the event said. Through their group, Waimea District Park Builders, the couple rallied the community, lobbied for funding and generally proved that persistence pays off.
“Without their effort and their stick-to-itiveness, this would never happen,” said Parks and Recreation Director Clayton Honma. “This park is your park out here.”
The site for the park was selected in 2009 from nine sites in the Waimea area and a master plan completed thereafter. Kohala Councilwoman Margaret Wille, one of five council members at the event, said the community has been clamoring for a park since at least 1989.
Hamakua Councilwoman Valerie Poindexter said she found the ceremony moving, especially looking out over the fields and feeling the spirits of the hardworking farmers and ranchers who made the town of Waimea a success.
“I feel the blessing of generations that have worked that land, and it was them that came before that made it possible for us to have what we have today,” Poindexter said.
Waimea District Park will be conducted in two phases. The first 24 acres was originally planned to have a covered play court, multi-use community building, community gathering/family recreation area, a comfort station, a pavilion, two multi-use regulation-size football/rugby/soccer fields, one youth baseball/softball field and a multi-use walkway and trail.
But it was downsized in the face of bids coming in higher than expected. The revised plans did away with the comfort station, one of the multi-use fields, a detached maintenance facility, utilities infrastructure, some of the parking spaces and some of the landscaping.
Solomon noted that the 2014 Legislature had appropriated another $8 million for the project that should still be on the books, if someone were to push for it. Solomon and Abercrombie had both lost their primary bids for re-election last year.
“We have our representative and our senator — go do something,” Solomon said.
The second phase is slated to include an additional football/rugby/soccer field, an additional youth baseball/softball field, two regulation baseball/softball fields, extension of the walkway and trail, two additional comfort stations, and, if the budget permits, converting the covered play courts that were constructed in the first phase into a gymnasium.
Land for the park’s first phase was obtained as a condition of Parker Ranch Land Trust’s approval for the Waimea Town Center. Parker Ranch has also agreed to reserve the additional lands for expansion.
It’s more important than ever that young people have a place to meet and play and learn sportsmanship, citizenship and the rules of the game, said Parker Ranch President and Chief Executive Officer Dutch Kuyper. Generations of children are growing up with virtual reality, rather than “today’s reality,” he said.
The site is bordered by Ala Ohia Road on the northwest, Parker Ranch headquarters to the west and undeveloped, vacant lands to the north, south and east. A new driveway, connected to Ala Ohia Road, between the intersections with Mamalahoa Highway and Kaomoloa Road, will provide access to the park.
