After 15 years of unfinished plans, a concept design for Hilo Skate Park was finally revealed to the community Thursday night.
Hawaii County Parks and Recreation partnered with skate park design company Grindline and Bow Engineering and Development to design a “just right” skate park for Hilo.
Mayor Mitch Roth at the meeting at the Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium voiced his full support for the construction of a skate park in Hilo.
“There are a lot of people in the community who want this, and we want to see a skate park in every district,” Roth said. “I believe we can get there, 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 taking the reins and presenting the design.
The 15,000 square foot skate park would be built on land on Manono Street across from Municipal Street.
Grindline and Bow separated the construction of the park into three or four phases, which would include a street skating area, a skate track, a shaka-shaped bowl and a roller derby rink.
The park would also be accessible to non-skateboarders with a keiki play area.
After reviewing the initial design concept, the public has the opportunity to provide feedback until April 15.
Grindline and Bow then plan to have the final concept ready by late spring and a full final design by the fall of this year.
“I think a lot of us are hoping this is just a starting point, and hopefully there will be a rearrangement after our feedback,” Oasis Skateshop owner Dan Madsen said Friday. , to the Tribune-Herald. “It looks like the time has come for us to narrow down what we want to see.”
Although Madsen wasn’t completely thrilled with the first design, he hopes to meet with Klinedinst to discuss other concepts that would better represent Hilo.
“We want to show (Klinedinst) a few places around the island and try to get him invested in what’s going on here,” Madsen said. “We want to pass on other designs from the past to him to refine the design.”
After working with three administrations to build a skate park, Madsen is cautiously optimistic after watching county leaders hold the town halls and team up with Grindline and Bow.
“It definitely looks like a step in the right direction. A lot of skaters are jaded, though, and that feeling reverberates all over the island,” Madsen said. “I don’t think that’s necessarily wrong, but it looks like there’s more support than there ever was.”
Fujioka presented a price breakdown of all construction phases and equipment that would be featured in the park.
Estimated cost of parking and utilities is $1.25 million, skating rink and roller derby bleachers are $1 million, comfort station is $300,000, playground is $570,000 $ and landscaping is $250,000.
He said the first phase is estimated at $830,000, the second at $488,000, the third at $390,000 and the interim fourth at $825,000.
In total, the skate park could cost $5.9 million.
An environmental assessment is underway while Grindline and Bow continue to finalize the design.
At Thursday’s meeting, the discussion took an abrupt turn when a group that had been in contact with the Office of Hawaiian Affairs began asking questions about the land that will be used for the skate park.
The parcel is on deeded land that belonged to the state until the area was transferred to the county through an executive order for recreational use as an addition to Hoolulu Park.
Although the order was issued in July 2000, OHA officials were unaware the county could use the plot for recreational purposes, the group claimed.
“We came to the meeting because we were not part of the conversation, and the OHA was not informed or invited to be part of this development,” Terri Napeahi said. “OHA should have a voice at the table every time there is a land transfer, and that was not known.”
Although Napeahi has expressed concerns about including the OHA, she is not against building a skate park there.
“It’s not about crushing the idea of a skate park. It’s about the OHA’s involvement in the process because it’s ceded land,” Napeahi said. “We would like to see part of the park have a small walking area where children can learn about what that area was like before planting. These are the lands of Kamehameha’s parents, and we are still alive. It is still our kuleana.
Napeahi said she works with the OHA to ensure she has a seat at the table whenever there are land transfers and whenever something can be built on Crown land. .
“Our concern is the lack of involvement in the land transfer. It’s a bigger issue than the skate park,” Napeahi said.
As a stakeholder, the OHA will be notified of the environmental assessment and may participate throughout the EA’s comment periods, according to Bow Engineering.
If there is no significant impact found by EA, Grindline will finalize the design, the county will seek permits and approvals for construction, and the Hilo Skate Coalition will fundraise for “skate elements” of the project.
Funding for the park will come from county and federal funds, in addition to the community contribution.
If the EA is complete by this winter, construction of the skatepark could begin in mid to late 2023.
The next step is for the skate community to give feedback on the current concept and design of the skate park.
Parks and Recreation will send the full presentation to all emails collected at both skate park design meetings and encourage community feedback.
Interested persons can make comments to Emi Tanitomi with Bow at [email protected]
Email Kelsey Walling at [email protected]
