East Hawaii community members celebrated a groundbreaking Tuesday for a project that has been a decade in the making — the Hilo Bayfront Trails. ADVERTISING East Hawaii community members celebrated a groundbreaking Tuesday for a project that has been a
East Hawaii community members celebrated a groundbreaking Tuesday for a project that has been a decade in the making — the Hilo Bayfront Trails.
They also welcomed news that the fundraising portion of the project will receive a significant boost from East Hawaii businessman and philanthropist Ed Olson, who offered to match all donations up to $250,000.
Hilo Bayfront Trails project organizer and president Peter Kubota told attendees at Tuesday’s festivities at the Mooheau Bandstand that he was thrilled to kick off construction of the network of trails that eventually could connect downtown Hilo with the University of Hawaii at Hilo, Hilo Harbor and various spots in between. However, he warned, there should be “no high fives yet.”
“We’ve got a lot of work to do,” he said.
Kubota said planning in earnest for the project began about eight years ago under the theory that “if we build it, they will come,” meaning if organizers could get the earliest phase off the ground, it could help bolster support and see the trails network through to completion.
“Now is the season to build, and we’ll need help from the community to do it,” he said. “We need donors, both large and small, because we’re going to pave this section by section.”
One such large donor who was honored Tuesday was Olson, who said after the groundbreaking that he was motivated to throw down his $250,000 gauntlet because of his love for Hilo.
“I’m a transplanted citizen, and I love it here,” he said. “I want to contribute, and I’ve been really fortunate in business. I earned lots of money that I can’t take with me, and I want to leave it here.”
Olson said getting behind the trails project was an easy decision, especially considering the current state of the introduction cruise ship visitors to Hilo get upon arrival at the port.
“I see people walking around, tourists, and they’re going down areas with no sidewalks, they’re dodging traffic, walking through industrial areas. They should have a nice, safe place to walk,” he said.
Kubota has said the last phase of the project — building and widening sidewalks from “Ice Pond” and into Keaukaha to the Hilo port — is likely going to be the most difficult portion of the project that could “be left to a future generation.” Figuring out rights of way, navigating over and under various utility lines, and coordinating construction could be a logistical Gordian Knot, with various county and state agencies needing to land on the same page before any progress could be made.
However, County Councilman Dennis Onishi told groundbreaking attendees that he recently spoke with state Department of Transportation Director Ford Fujikami, and that agency is “on board.”
“From the harbor entrance to the roadway and 75 yards toward Hamakua and 75 yards in the other direction, those are state highways,” he said. “They’re willing to help get funding, which would be about $700,000.”
But before that can happen, Phase 1 needs to be completed. The initial phase will overseen by the county Department of Parks and Recreation and will involve paving a 12-foot-wide, multi-use pathway in three sections along Hilo Bayfront. One section will run from Mooheau Park to Pauahi Street, a second will run from Pauahi Street to the Hilo Bayfront Park canoe sheds, and the third will run from the Kumu Street terminus around the soccer fields to Pauahi Street.
The estimated cost for Phase 1 is just shy of $750,000, with $345,743 coming from a National Park Service grant, $25,000 coming from the County of Hawaii, and the remaining $379,023 in donations of labor, supplies, and more to be collected by the nonprofit Friends of Hilo Bayfront Trails Inc.
Meanwhile, the state is committed to taking on another section of Phase 1 to the tune of about $1 million, which would expand and improve trails through the Wailoa River State Recreation Area.
Future phases would include creating trails through the Banyan Drive area to “Ice Pond,” and from the downtown area to the University of Hawaii at Hilo campus.
Not including the future phase along Kalanianaole Avenue to the harbor, the trails project is estimated to cost a total of $6 million. Through the use of matching funds and grants, and the state taking on a total of $2 million in improvements within its jurisdictions, East Hawaii residents could pay for the entire project by raising $1 million locally, Kubota said.
Construction of the first phase must be completed by December 2016, a stipulation of the federal grant.
Email Colin M. Stewart at cstewart@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
