Just months after Hawaii County celebrated an $11.6 million upgrade to the Mauna Kea Recreation Area, the county announced Tuesday the park is closed until further notice.
The park was closed because there’s no water, Brittany Kaleohano, secretary to Parks and Recreation Director Charmaine Kamaka, said Tuesday evening.
“There’s no water to the entire park,” Kaleohano said. “We’re trying to determine why. We’ll let everyone know as soon as it’s back on.”
Former Mayor Billy Kenoi celebrated the completion of improvements to the park as his last maile lei untying Dec. 1, less than a week before leaving office.
Hawaii County took over management of the 32-acre park from the state in 2014 in order to improve the facilities. Since then, the county created a 3,700-square-foot playground on artificial turf, opened new restrooms, paved the parking area, created a picnic area, installed lighted flagpoles, landscaped the area and hired security. The project also includes paved pathways for walking and running.
Portions of the project ran into problems throughout its construction.
Change orders to the $416,990 contract for a new comfort station accounted for 8.9 percent of the contract price for contractor White Sands Construction. A $418,000 playground built by Site Engineering Inc. came in over 4.9 percent of the bid price.
The project also includes refurbishment of cabins, that were not complete at the time of the grand opening.
Once complete and the fees put into place by administrative rule, the six-person cabins will rent for $75 nightly to kamaaina and $150 nightly to visitors. The 24-person bunkhouses, which includes use of the kitchen and dining hall, will go for $240 nightly for kamaaina and $480 nightly for visitors.
The park, which was neglected by the state for years, previously had composting toilets, which didn’t need running water, before the renovations.
Email Nancy Cook Lauer at ncook-lauer@westhawaiitoday.com.
