Groundbreaking is Thursday for Papa‘aloa Park covered playcourt

Hawaii County will hold a blessing and groundbreaking at 10:30 a.m. Thursday to celebrate the start of construction of a new covered playcourt at Papa‘aloa Park.

The playcourt will replace the park’s plantation-area gymnasium that was razed in May 2022 after the building was declared unsalvageable due to extensive termite damage.

According to Tom Callis, spokesman for Mayor Kimo Alameda, the playcourt “is essentially a gym, but portions of the walls are open to the air and covered with mesh or fence.”

According to Callis, the Department of Parks and Recreation has covered playcourts at several parks, including Pana‘ewa Park, William “Billy” Kenoi District Park and Spencer Kalani Schutte District Park.

Construction is expected to begin June 2, and the project is scheduled for completion within 18 months.

The original estimate for the facility was $10 million, but the price tag has increased to $19.3 million, which includes funds for planning, design and construction, Callis said.

The state contributed $5 million to the project, with the county picking up the bulk of the tab, $14.3 million.

Isemoto Contracting is the general contractor for the construction project.

Floor space at the facility will be 12,300 square-feet, with “a multi-purpose court area large enough to accommodate a full-size basketball court,” Callis said.

The building also will have restrooms, storage space and an additional multi-purpose area.

In addition to basketball, the play court also will be used for volleyball, pickleball, futsal — which is a fast-paced, smaller-scale indoor soccer variant — martial arts, plus community programs, events and gatherings.

Callis said that in addition to the covered playcourt building, the project includes indoor equipment, such as a portable stage and exercise mats, infrastructure work, including parking and landscaping, and a perimeter walking path.

According to Callis, Papa‘aloa Park will be closed during construction, and Park and Rec’s Elderly Activities Division will relocate its nutrition program from the park to Pa‘auilo Gym.

In addition, public water spigots at the park will remain as available as possible and are expected to remain accessible during the start of construction. Callis noted, however, there will be occasions during the construction when the spigots will be unavailable.

Parks and Rec will inform the public about the project’s impact on spigot access as necessary, Callis said.

Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.