KAILUA-KONA — It’s going to remain dark at parts of the Old Kona Airport Recreation Area a little longer yet. ADVERTISING KAILUA-KONA — It’s going to remain dark at parts of the Old Kona Airport Recreation Area a little longer
KAILUA-KONA — It’s going to remain dark at parts of the Old Kona Airport Recreation Area a little longer yet.
The new and improved lights slated for the field won’t be ready by Thursday, the originally scheduled turn-on date.
Unspecified delays pushed the expected date of completion back to the end of the month although a specific day hasn’t been nailed down. Although the poles are up at the soccer fields, the electrical system still needs work, according to the county.
The project is part of work planned for the park on a whole and includes upgrading to the lights at the baseball field and installation of new lights at the soccer fields.
The ball field upgrade is estimated at $1,055,117 and the soccer field lights at $897,072. They form part of the truncated $9 million overall park project, down from the $20 million originally planned. The scaled-down project focuses on the lights, skatepark and events pavilion, another halting stop in the four-decades long effort to complete the transformation of the 118-acre former transportation center into a community park.
Both of the ongoing lighting projects are being performed by ELCCO Electric, with DeLima’s Drilling Inc. drilling the holes for the poles as a subcontractor. They were the lowest of four bidders in both instances.
The project to renovate lights at the events pavilion was bid at $114,456.
There is also an awarded bid of $530,000 to work on the canoe hale No. 2, which was listed as completed.
The upgrades to the park originally included plans to install a new entrance and road, remove parts of the old runway and other projects. However, it was scaled back after there was a delay in getting approval from the State Historic Preservation Division. A section of the park on the north end includes three burials and other historic sites.
