About 40 elated community members and politicians gathered at the site of the demolished Papa‘aloa Gym on Thursday for a groundbreaking and blessing for the future covered playcourt that will stand there.
“Growing up, I played against Clayton. Now, we’re on the same team,” Mayor Kimo Alameda told the crowd about his history of sports and life with Parks and Recreation Director Clayton Honma.
“(The community) was unhappy when we had to close it down for safety reasons,” Alameda said of the old gym in an interview with the Tribune-Herald after the ceremony. “To resurrect a building that quickly is phenomenal, and it speaks volumes to the community who really pushed it.”
Construction of the playcourt is expected to start on June 2 and is scheduled to be completed within 18 months, according to the county. Papa‘aloa Park will be closed during construction, so the nutrition program run by the Parks and Recreation Elderly Activities Division will be relocated to Pa‘auilo Gym.
The demolition of the decrepit but beloved plantation-style gym that served as Papa‘aloa’s gathering place for recreation, safety and community events was one of the first items on County Councilwoman Heather Kimball’s docket when she was elected to represent Hamakua in 2022. Seeing how despondent the community was over the loss of the gym — and how driven they were to replace it — kept the mission of getting a new recreation facility in the remote community at the top of her list.
Kimball said she still has the folder “stuffed with letters” from community members about their need for a new gym that she carried to the state capital in 2022 to help the late Rep. Mark Nakashima, who passed away in 2024, secure funding for a new Papa‘aloa recreation facility.
Nakashima introduced a successful bill that year requesting $5 million in state funding that was then matched by former Mayor Mitch Roth’s administration. In addition to that, Kimball said she was later able to secure an additional $9 million in county capital improvement funds.
“The best way to maintain community well-being is to give them a gathering place,” Kimball said. “It brings them together, it makes the community healthier, and it builds resilience from the ability to connect if there’s an emergency.”
Nakashima’s family was present at Thursday’s groundbreaking, helping to overturn dirt with o‘o sticks alongside Alameda, Kimball, Honma and state Rep. Matthias Kusch, who now fills Nakashima’s seat.
Also turning dirt with the assistance of state Sen. Tim Richards was community member Lucille Chung. Chung credited the passion of the community and the help from the lawmakers representing the area for taking the project from its announced demolition in November 2021 to Thursday’s groundbreaking just three and a half years later.
“It’s amazing how quickly we got it together, and it was true collaboration, always with kindness and respect,” Chung said. “To me, that is the key. You don’t go in there and demand, you go in there to work with them, and get better results.”
The 12,300 square-foot covered playcourt will offer a place to play sports including volleyball, basketball and pickleball for people of all ages in the area.
Capt. Roy Valero was on the police force serving Hamakua before transferring to the South Kohala patrol he serves now, and as he helped break ground Thursday, he recalled what an important community resource the gym was when he was a school resource officer for the area.
“There was a definite need for the opportunity for kids to come and just play, to hang out and play in a safe space,” Valero said. “I think the resounding thought from today was it was so quick because of all the community support. From 2021, when they announced they were going to knock it down, to 2025, we’re breaking ground for a new facility. I think that’s unheard of, and it’s a testament to these small, tight-knit communities.”
Email Kyveli Diener at kdiener@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
