Efforts to move the Kealakehe Regional Park project forward are underway, but a construction date has not been announced, county officials said.
At Tuesday’s Kona Community Development Plan Action Committee meeting, the park’s status appeared to be in the same stage it was in at last month’s meeting.
The latest update was that there were at least two steps that needed to be completed before talk about the park’s construction could begin — a completed environmental assessment review and upgrading the Kealakehe Wastewater Treatment Plant to irrigation-quality water.
“The Kealakehe Regional Park is identified as a key park in the Kona Community Development Plan, and a park in this area is much needed. We’re sorely lacking park space for the amount of people that live here,” action committee member John Pelletier told West Hawaii Today.
The Department of Parks and Recreation was close to completing a review of an initial EA draft that was prepared by the county’s land consultant, PBR Hawaii & Associates, according to County Councilman Holeka Inaba.
Before Parks and Rec can give the green-light on the assessment, park officials need to discuss the “direction, scope and timing” of the wastewater plant’s required upgrades with the Department of Environmental Management, “because both projects are interdependent.”
“Most important is establishing a clear delineation of who will be responsible for design, construction, management/operation, and maintenance between DEM and (Parks and Rec) and which project is taking on what scope,” Inaba said in a statement.
Plans to upgrade the wastewater plant to higher-grade treated water have been in the works for years. The upgrade would also be used to irrigate nearby areas that may include Old Kona Airport State Recreation Area, the Lili‘uokalani Trust area and the Kohanaiki golf course and community.
“Fresh water access has been a major barrier for any new development in Kona, so the project is being closely coordinated with the county’s Department of Environmental Management, whose charge it will be to provide R-1 water to the park as a reliable source of irrigation and maintenance water,” Pelletier said.
A collaboration between Parks and Rec and the West Hawaii Parks and Athletic Corporation resulted in a past master plan, which also led to a “long range” master plan prepared by the firm Kimura International Inc. for a proposed regional park in 2012.
Some points of the original plan included “an assessment of existing conditions at the site, an evaluation of the opportunities and constraints they posed, development of project goals and objectives to frame and focus the future design, and the creation of alternative land use plans with cost estimates to determine what was most appropriate for the property,” WHIPAC said in a statement.
On the back burner since the mid-80s, the 190-acre piece of land in between Queen Ka‘ahumanu Highway on the west and Ane Keohokalole Highway on the east was first proposed to be a sports complex, with a gym, swimming pool, tennis courts, martial arts arena, concert hall, exhibition hall, equestrian ring, soccer field and archery range.
In 1990, a plan was proposed to turn the land into an 18-hole public golf course, which was scrapped due to the economy. Twenty years later, then Gov. Neil Abercrombie issued an order to set aside the land for public use.
According to WHIPAC, some goals involving the park’s construction will include to incorporate Hawaiian history and culture in the design of the park; build facilities that the county can afford; encourage trash recycling and; consider revising park requirements for future development within 15 miles of Kealakehe.
“The Kealakehe Regional Park is envisioned to be a focal point for organized sports and outdoor recreation, a landmark, and a community gathering place for this rapidly growing region of Hawaii Island,” WHIPAC said in a statement.
A meeting was in the works between Parks and Rec’s new administration and several departments to discuss costs and available funding for the project. A timeline for upgrading the water treatment plant was not immediately available, but CDP members were looking into it.
Email Erik Gabaldon at ebabaldon@westhawaiitoday.com.