KAILUA-KONA — Joe Valentino sees God’s hand at work in the ongoing upgrades to the Queen Lili’uokalani Recreation Center.
“You’re at the front end of something special,” the 42-year-old Queen Lili’uokalani Village neighborhood resident and youth director at Grace Community Church said. “It’s a revival of sorts happening here.”
The location of the center, 74-5161 Puuhalo St., provides an opportunity to bring members from the 179 homes in the Queen Lili’uokalani Village Community Association together in a positive way, Valentino said.
On Monday, a group of volunteers from the community started the community garden. Volunteers built plant pots out of wood pallets, planted flowers, and moved rocks to create a border for the garden. Volunteers also power washed, primed, and painted a wall of the gazebo, a central gathering space on the roughly 2-acre site.
“I want to see kids using time productively and in a safe environment,” said Donald Bradley, the 52-year-old Queen Lili’uokalani Village Community Association president.
On Thursday, Bradley held a meeting with association board members and members of the community to ensure that the recreation center and programs continue to improve.
“We need to focus on outreach and leadership development, so community members know what we’re doing and they feel empowered to participate and build the community themselves,” said Valentino.
La’akea Kaufman also highlighted the importance of expanding the community garden into a larger and ongoing project.
“The goal is to grow enough food to feed the community and create a culture of wellness,” said the 22-year-old FoodCorps member. The FoodCorps website says that it, “connects kids to healthy food in school, so they can reach their full potential.”
But the recreation center faces major challenges.
“We want the community to come together so we can keep this place safe,” said Barbara-Jean Fujihara Shiraishi.
The 52-year-old Queen Lili’uokalani Village Community Association secretary said meth and associated crimes are a major problem in the area and she has made calls to try and get more of a police presence in the area.
“It’s like the Wild West out here,” said Dan Frack, vice president of the Queen Lili’uokalani Village Community Association.
Parts of the neighborhood just down the road from the recreation center are noisy until early in the morning, he said.
“I think the safety is a real concern,” said Jacob Robinson, a Science Teacher from Kealakehe Intermediate School. He described how in the past just having the police posted at school dance prevented a lot of problems, so that might be effective for the recreation center.
But that would not be free, said Nate Jacobson.
“You would probably need to pay for a part-time off duty officer,” said the 36-year-old pending board member.
Frack also mentioned cosmetic concerns for the recreation center.
He mentioned the 12 abandoned cars that need to be removed from the roadway by the recreation center to make this area more attractive for parents and kids in the neighborhood, but car removal costs about $400 per car.
Frack paused during the middle of the discussion and looked up at the roof of where they had the meeting. Bradley explained that termites have hollowed out part of the roof.
“It has to be tented and we’ll come up with a plan to make it cosmetically better,” Frack said.
Bradley explained the reason for cosmetic changes rather than a complete overhaul: “Funding.” Frack encouraged looking into grant options as a way to cover the fix-up costs.
But even with the current obstacles, Valentino is optimistic. He points to the current after-school programs offered at the recreation center. They’ve also created a Facebook page called Queen Liliuokalani Village Recreational Center.
On Wednesdays, Kona Kids Outreach provides a program from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. that provides homework help, a time of honoring one student each week, snacks, crafts, and sports. The mission of Kona Kids Outreach from Robb and Karen Boss’s newsletter is to, “teach kids that they are valued, important, and uniquely gifted by God.”
On Thursdays, John Trester plays basketball with kids grades 6 and up and teaches them basketball skills from 3:30 to 5 p.m. while his wife, Kim Trester, teaches a cooking class at the same time.
Valentino also notes the action steps that came out of this meeting that will keep the recreation center on the track of improvement: three signs will be posted to share the events of the recreation center. One will be posted on the entrance gate. One will be posted by the intersection of Palani Road and Palihiolo Street. One will be posted at the intersection of Palani Road and Konalani Street. A Facebook group will also be created, so community members can check out what is going on at the recreation center.
Valentino said he felt most encouraged on Monday when he saw 7, 8, and 9-year-olds working alongside the adult volunteers on the community garden.
“I was impressed by the servant leadership being modeled,” Valentino said. “After all, I thought that’s one of our main goals. I thought that’s one of the main goals of anywhere.”
They created a Facebook page called Queen Liliuokalani Village Recreational Center.