Waimea residents are one step closer to getting a new community center/emergency shelter thanks to a generous financial donation.
The Daniel R. Sayre Foundation presented the $750,000 donation from Marc and Lynne Benioff to the County Council’s finance committee for the design, permitting and other costs associated with the construction of a new community center at Spencer Kalani Schutte Park. The community center also would serve as an emergency shelter in case of a disaster.
Waimea Community Association President Nancy Carr Smith provided the committee with background about the project, which has been a matter of discussion for over a decade.
“Back in 2015, under the (Billy) Kenoi administration, we had the first phase of Waimea District Park come to fruition. There were a few things that were designed during that first phase that didn’t get built due to lack of funding. One of those items was a multiuse community building,” said Carr Smith. “After the 2021 Mana Road fire and the August 8, 2023, fires we began to realize, as a community, that we really need a shelter in Waimea.”
She said it will be a hardened building to survive hurricanes, and be an emergency shelter for the Waimea community as well as the extended community including all the South Kohala coastal areas and North Kohala, Waikoloa Village and Waikii Ranch.
“We cover a pretty large area and needed some seed funds to get this project dusted off and repackaged, so I was able to find some private funding for that,” said Carr Smith. “We feel confident that we will be able to find the funding for the construction. It’s going to be a federal, state, county and private partnership, so it won’t be too much of a burden on any one group.”
She said she was hopeful that they can break ground next year.
Laura Mallery Sayre, co-founder of the foundation, said the Waimea Community Association has for years been helping every time there has been a fire in that area, feeding the firefighters and housing the people that needed to be evacuated.
“We need this community shelter which would be also a community center for Waimea. It also fits into our mission of saving lives,” she said.
“Waimea District Park is such an important place for all of us in this community that we are blessed to be part of, and the emergency shelter is clearly a critical need. So when we were approached a few months ago about the effort to get this project moving again, we were happy to be able to help,” Benioff said.
The money will be directed to the Department of Parks and Recreation, which will be responsible for the center’s completion.
“This generous donation is going to ensure we design and permit the Waimea Community Center/shelter,” said Parks and Rec Director Maurice Messina. “The original design was completed around 2014. There have been a couple of code changes, and as long as we are going to design it, let’s make it a shelter.”
He said the latest design incorporates accessibility from the outside of the building, and needs to be redesigned so everything can be accessed from the inside, including hallways and bathrooms. They also plan on adding showers so it can be a stand-alone shelter if need be.
“The mayor instructed us to find every available resource we can for effecting the construction, once that happens,” Messina said. “We expect a year or so for the design and permitting process to go through, and during that time, we are going to work with state and county legislators. We will talk to Civil Defense to see if there is a possibility for hazard mitigation money to assist with this project.”
When not used as an emergency shelter, the community center will be used for elderly activities, recreation, meetings and whatever the community will need.
Once the community center opens, Messina said his department can start working on the Waimea Community Center that is next to the ball fields at the other side of town.
“We have to fix that roof and do some other work on it but we can’t necessarily close that down because that is the only community center in the area right now. I am very hesitant of closing down a facility for a year or so to make a bunch of repairs and the community has nowhere else to go,” he explained. “We are playing catch-up in our department with the hundreds of facilities that we have and the decades of deferred maintenance. With folks like the Sayre Foundation and the hard work Nancy Carr Smith put into this, it would not see the light of day right now. We are so appreciative for this and all of the community efforts throughout the island where community members and organizations and private beneficiaries are stepping up to really help our park system. Without them, we don’t know what we would do. We look at this as a win-win situation for us.”
Councilwoman Cindy Evans represents the Waimea community, and is thrilled to see the project advancing.
”Well this is exciting to see this project move forward,” she said. “This is the best example of partnerships and understanding not only the needs of the community but finding a project that people can get behind.“
