Wow! Two very interesting articles in today’s newspaper. The first one being on the front page. The county is facing a $12 million deficit. The second being on the front page of the sports page.
USTA says tennis courts are still on the docket. I don’t think that USTA has communicated with the present administration of Hawaii County.
As we all know, the FED Cup promised to help out last year with redoing the Old Airport tennis courts. After about two months, I began to inquire about these funds. The first response I got was we have not received the funds from USTA. I thought, OK, that takes awhile. Throughout the year the excuses kept coming. We lost the only voice we had in West Hawaii in Reid Flickinger. I have no idea what happened to him. I am not going to list all the excuses I received throughout the year.
Let’s fast forward to today. I had a hard time getting answers so I decided with the new administration I would go directly to the head of Parks and Rec. We really needed new light bulbs so I decided to take my chances. To my surprise, I was able to talk with Charmaine, our new Parks and Rec director. This director is a very nice person. She is not afraid to tell you exactly where things stand. To make this letter a little shorter the county does not have the matching funds for USTA. In fact somewhere in the conversation I remember someone saying that USTA asked for their share back because nothing was being done! I think that is what the design and bidding process is being used for. In the meantime, Charmaine was good enough to get the burned-out light bulbs replaced. For those who play tennis at night that was a big help.
So here is where we stand at the Old A. A brand new children’s park, which wasn’t needed. The old one was just fine. Brand new lights for the ball fields. Once again what was wrong with the old ones?
The soccer field has new lights. These were needed. The soccer players waited a long time for this and they were rewarded. The Old A tennis courts? Still the same. For those of us who play at night we are grateful to have a place to play. As long as the lights work, we are happy. However, it is sad to see the courts go down hill.
Still hoping to see new courts some day, however I don’t think that will happen as soon as August, which is what USTA has said.
Patricia Nye is a resident of Kailua-Kona