Two years after the demolition of the Papaaloa Gym, residents are asked to weigh in on a plan to improve the park where the building once stood.
A draft environmental assessment for a Papaaloa Park master plan — which details, among other things, potential plans for a covered play court, new community center, playground, skate park and more — was published Thursday, beginning a 30-day public comment window for the project.
The park was previously the site of the Papaaloa Gym, which was demolished in 2022 after Hawaii County determined the building’s extensive termite damage and general decrepitude rendered it unsalvageable. Since then, the community has had minimal recreational facilities available to the public.
“One of the hardest days I’ve had in this job was the day I had to stand in Papaaloa, in front of all these community members, and let them know we had to demolish their cherished gym,” said county Parks and Recreation Director Maurice Messina.
Since then, Messina and state legislators have stated that replacing the gym is a top priority. In 2023, $5 million in state funds were allocated for a replacement facility, along with a matching amount of county funds.
Those funds will be used to carry out the master plan, which would entail building a covered play court over the site of the previous gym, with room to possibly expand the facility further.
While the plan lists a number of other facilities to be built — including skate parks, ballfields, pavilions, pedestrian paths and more — the play court is the only constant, and the document notes that improvements are contingent upon the availability of funding.
While the plan designates the project as “Phase 1,” Messina said future phases are currently uncertain, noting that phased approaches to development tend to be the most effective way of obtaining funding for park projects.
That said, Messina said the funding for this phase was only secured thanks to residents.
“I’ve never seen a community come together so quickly,” Messina said. “Without that … this project would have never been realized. They’re the real heroes.”
The environmental assessment included comments from residents from a series of public meetings held last year, with people offering recommendations for facilities or activities to be included in the park.
“Papaaloa park is a place where the community comes together,” one person wrote in response to a prompt asking residents to envision their ideal park in five years. “A place where people of all ages can go to have fun and play sports. Open gym for adults and P&R league games (with) the children. A place where the keiki can go to after school to play sports. It would create feeder programs for the high school — just like the good old days.”
The EA anticipated no significant environmental impact from the project.
The draft assessment can be viewed at tinyurl.com/ybt24t54. Community members have until March 11 to submit comments about the document, which they can do by emailing papaaloapark@pbrhawaii.com.
Email Michael Brestovansky at mbrestovansky@hawaiitribune-herald.com.