The long-awaited makeover of Old Kona Airport Park is set to move ahead early next year, and a recent land purchase is expanding Kipapa Park on Alii Drive. ADVERTISING The long-awaited makeover of Old Kona Airport Park is set to
The long-awaited makeover of Old Kona Airport Park is set to move ahead early next year, and a recent land purchase is expanding Kipapa Park on Alii Drive.
Designs for the $9 million Makaeo, or Kailua Park, are being finalized, said Ken Van Bergen, deputy director of the Hawaii County Department of Parks and Recreation. The project is on course to be put out for bid in the first quarter of 2015 and awarded by the end of March, Van Bergen said.
“We’re looking pretty good on that (timeline),” he said.
Parts of the old runway will be removed, and a new road and entrance will be created along with landscaping and a cultural area at the north end of the park. Plans for upgrades to the 118-acre facility have been in the works for four decades, but a lack of funding and political will kept much of the park in a state of deterioration for years.
On Alii Drive, a $3 million county purchase of 10 acres adjacent to Kipapa Park closed on Oct. 10. The property, across the street from Laaloa Beach Park, was acquired with money from the county 2 percent land fund.
The land had been approved for a 120-unit condominium project. Acquired through foreclosure by French bank BNP Paribas in 2012, the property contains ancient homes and agricultural and burial sites. It now joins the existing 6.5 acres the county purchased in 2012.
“Initially, we are going to contract to finish some archaeology work and site clearing, and proceed with site planning,” Van Bergen said.
Kona Councilman Dru Kanuha said the area has potential to offer walking and jogging trails, picnic areas and a cultural center. Kanuha chairs the Public Works and Parks and Recreation Committee.
“We’ve been working with the lineal descendants to make sure cultural resources are taken care of when people do start to use the area for recreation,” Kanuha said.
It’s too early to say exactly what might be put in place at the park.
“We have to finish up our main priority, which is Makaeo,” Kanuha said.
The Hawaii Island YMCA is also donating 6.5 acres of its Laaloa Avenue property to the county for a park. The YMCA had plans of its own for a park and community center dating to the early 2000s, but the project failed to materialize. The property had been donated to the county by Towne Development, which developed the nearby Alii Heights and Keauhou View Estates. The county deeded the land to the YMCA in 2001.
The transfer back to county hands will be completed once the property is subdivided and the County Council approves the transfer early next year, Van Bergen said.
The county is working on a partnership with a local developer to create, at a minimum, a soccer and football field, restrooms and a parking lot.
“It’s a good thing with the Laaloa extension being developed as we speak,” Van Bergen said. “The parcel will have better access than every before.”
