The more things change in urban Honolulu, the more they stay the same. That’s the literal juxtaposition in our cityscape: Construction on new Kakaako towers is bustling and booming, while just a short distance away, the Waikiki War Memorial Natatorium sits silently, crumbling away.
In the nearly four decades since the Natatorium has been shut due to disrepair, government officials have struggled with the memorial’s fate. The latest debate reset came this week, with Mayor Kirk Caldwell saying he’s open to a still-vague option allowing some restoration of the saltwater pool, if it pencils out. Pro-Natatorium activists hailed the possibility, since Caldwell previously had favored demolishing the pool and bleachers to create a public beach.
Cost, of course, will be a major determinant, both in building then in maintenance. But doing nothing about the Natatorium is not an option.
That leaves three main options on the table: Full Natatorium restoration, estimated between $40 million and $60 million; tearing down the structure, moving the memorial arch and creating a sandy beach, estimated at $20 million to $30 million; or creation of a “perimeter deck” that replaces the crumbling one and allows seawater to flow in and out of the pool, estimated at $20 million to $30 million.
It’s this last option that is giving preservationists hope, since it also strives to retain the bleachers and arches. Hearings on a draft environmental impact statement will be held next fall, so expect vigorous debate. No one expects unanimity on a final decision, but don’t let another decade pass before that decision is made.
Caregivers can get a little relief
With the “silver tsunami” emerging to hit Hawaii’s caregivers and social services, now is the time to start shoring up the supports.
That’s why the new Kupuna Caregivers Program, created by law earlier this year and run by the Hawaii Executive Office on Aging, holds promise. The concept: Provide $70 a day in services to those caring for seniors to help those caregivers stay in the workforce.
The first of its kind in the nation, Kupuna Caregivers aims to offer a needed break to family caregivers who work at least 30 hours a week by paying up to $70 per day for services — such as adult day care, respite and transportation — so they can keep working.
On Wednesday, the program began taking applications from caregivers — but with a mere $600,000 in initial funding, turn in that paperwork sooner rather than later. About 154,000 caregivers are estimated in Hawaii and with the expected demand, funding could quickly run out. The Legislature will be looking at enrollment demand, services rendered and other metrics before agreeing to allocate more money.
This being a government program, there’s a bevy of conditions and parameters for qualifying applicants (see hawaiiadrc.org). Still, Kupuna Caregivers seems worthwhile, on paper. The challenge here is to run this complex process efficiently so that there’s good data to assess the program’s worth.
About 17 percent of Hawaii’s 1.4 million residents are age 65 or older, a nearly 3 percent increase since 2010, says the U.S. Census Bureau. The need for help to overburdened family caregivers will only grow, as baby boomers age into kupuna boomers.
Sadness for lives lost, wasted
It was a sorrowful week, with two gruesome killings involving young adults whose young lives — somehow, somewhere — went terribly awry.
On Tuesday, Stephen Brown, 23, and girlfriend Hailey Dandurand, 20, were indicted in the Dec. 7 death of Telma Boinville, 51, a substitute teacher who was supplementing her family’s income as a house cleaner for a vacation-rental home near Pupukea. Tragically, it was at that house that Boinville was fatally attacked; her 8-year-old daughter was tied up but survived.
The randomness and brutality of it all spurred a heartfelt, community embrace for Boinville’s family — and left many wondering how such viciousness came to be. The in-court photos of the wild- and green-haired Brown and the disheveled Dandurand only added to the many questions of why, how and what happened.
Sadly, those same questions swirled around Kamaua Van Gieson, 20, charged in the fatal stabbing of recent Waianae High School graduate Dustin Molina, 18. Apparently, jealousy was behind Van Gieson’s alleged two-day spree of violence, which started Dec. 3 with an apparent assault on his ex-girlfriend and ended with Molina’s death at Maili Beach Park.
It’s been a heavy week, trying to reconcile the violence with the suspects’ youthfulness. Mourning continues for the two vibrant lives cut short; three young lives, meanwhile, seem to have self- destructed.
