After 15 years of unfulfilled plans, a conceptual design for the Hilo Skate Park finally was revealed to the community Thursday night.
Hawaii County Parks and Recreation has partnered with Grindline, a skate park design firm, and Bow Engineering and Development to design a skate park “just right” for Hilo.
Mayor Mitch Roth during the meeting at the Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium conveyed his full support for building a skate park in Hilo.
“There are a lot of people in the community that want this, and we want to see a skate park in every district,” Roth said. “I believe we can make this happen, and I believe we will before the end of my administration.”
Parks and Recreation Director Maurice Messina introduced James Klinedinst, project manager at Grindline, and Matt Fujioka, chief engineer at Bow, before they took the reins and presented the design.
The 15,000-square-foot skate park would be built on land on Manono Street across from the civic.
Grindline and Bow separated the construction of the park into three or four phases, which would include a street skating area, a skate path, a bowl shaped like a shaka, and a roller derby rink.
The park would be accessible to nonskaters as well with a playground for keiki.
After reviewing the initial design concept, the public has a chance to provide input until April 15.
Grindline and Bow then plan to have the final concept ready by late spring and a complete final design by fall of this year.
“I think a lot of us hope that this is just a starting point, and hopefully there is some rearrangement after our feedback,” Oasis Skateshop owner Dan Madsen told the Tribune-Herald Friday. “It seems like now is the time for us to get specific about what we want to see.”
Although Madsen wasn’t completely thrilled with the first design, he hopes to meet with Klinedinst to discuss more concepts that would better represent Hilo.
“We want show (Klinedinst) some spots around the island and try to get him invested in what’s going on around here,” Madsen said. “We want to impart on him some other designs of the past to refine the design.”
After working with three administrations to build a skate park, Madsen is cautiously optimistic after seeing county leadership host the public meetings and partnering with Grindline and Bow.
“This definitely feels like a step in the right direction. A lot of skaters are jaded, though, and that sentiment reverberates islandwide,” Madsen said. “I don’t think that’s necessarily wrong, but it does seem like there is more support than there ever has been.”
Fujioka presented a price breakdown of all the construction phases and amenities that would be featured in the park.
The estimated cost of the parking lot and utilities is $1.25 million, the roller derby rink and bleachers is $1 million, the comfort station is $300,000, a playground is $570,000 and landscaping is $250,000.
He said phase one is estimated to cost $830,000, phase two is $488,000, phase three is $390,000, and the tentative phase four is $825,000.
All together, the skate park could cost $5.9 million.
An environmental assessment is ongoing while Grindline and Bow continue to finalize the design.
During the meeting Thursday, the discussion took a sharp turn when a group that has been in contact with the Office of Hawaiian Affairs began asking about the land that will be used for the skate park.
The parcel is on ceded lands that were owned by the state until the area was transferred to the county through an executive order for recreation purposes as an addition to Hoolulu Park.
Although the order was issued July 2000, representatives of OHA were unaware that the county could use the parcel for recreational purposes, the group claimed.
“We came to the meeting, because we have not been part of the conversation, and OHA has not been notified or asked to be part of this development,” Terri Napeahi said. “OHA should have a voice at the table every time there is a transfer of land, and this was not known.”
While Napeahi expressed concerns about the inclusion of OHA, she is not against a skate park being built there.
“This is not about squashing the idea of a skate park. It’s about OHA being involved in the process, because these are ceded lands,” Napeahi said. “We would love to see part of the park have a little walking area where kids can be educated about what this area was preplantation. These are the lands of relatives to Kamehameha, and we are still alive. It’s still our kuleana.”
Napeahi said she is working with OHA to make sure it has a seat at the table every time there are transfers of land and every time something may be built on crown lands.
“Our concern is with the lack of involvement in the transfer of lands. It’s a bigger issue than the skate park,” Napeahi said.
As a stakeholder, OHA will be notified about the environmental assessment and can participate throughout the EA comment periods, according to Bow Engineering.
If there is no significant impact found by the EA, Grindline will finalize the design, the county will seek permitting and approvals for construction, and the Hilo Skate Coalition will fundraise for “skating elements” of the project.
Funding for the park will come from county and federal funds, in addition to whatever the community contributes.
If the EA is complete by this winter, construction of the skate park could begin in mid-to-late 2023.
The next step is for the skating community to give their opinions about the current concept and design of the skate park.
Parks and Recreation will be sending the full presentation to all emails collected during both skate park design meetings and encourage feedback from the community.
Those interested can make comments to Emi Tanitomi with Bow at etanitomi@bowengineering.com.
Email Kelsey Walling at kwalling@hawaiitribune-herald.com