The archery range at Kapiolani Park will remain closed for at least another month until the city Parks Department can conduct a public hearing to determine whether it should be closed permanently.

Parks Director Gary Cabato had the range closed April 24 after an errant arrow landed in a tennis court and nearly hit a player.

He planned to decide last week on closing the range for good, but received a slew of comments from people who stopped him on the street, sent emails and made phone calls. The comments were evenly divided among those in favor and those against closing the range, he said.

Because of the response, Cabato decided to hold a public hearing in about a month to discuss the range’s future. Until a decision is made, the range will remain closed and notices posted on the targets.

Cabato urged the public to attend the hearing and make its views known.

"It’ll help me weigh in on the decision I have to make," he said.

A notice for the hearing must be published at least 30 days in advance and will appear in the newspaper and on the Parks Department’s website.

Cabato plans to announce his decision after the hearing.

The city still has two other archery ranges open at Koko Head Shooting Complex and Central Oahu Regional Park in Wai­pio. Cabato said the department had planned to close the range at Kapiolani Park eventually.

He said the range at Kapiolani Park may have outlived its usefulness because more powerful equipment is available, creating new hazards.

Cabato said the range, which faces toward the tennis courts, can’t be reconfigured because there are roads on its makai and Ewa side. On the Diamond Head side, houses sit above a low hill and would be in danger of misdirected arrows.

Mike Stelmach, who found the errant arrow that prompted the closing, said he was playing a doubles game on a Friday when an arrow landed about 10 feet away from him on the court. The arrow apparently flew over a parking lot, a clubhouse and several other tennis courts before landing in the one farthest from the range.

The arrow left a ding about a quarter-inch deep in the court. Stelmach said dozens of people were on the courts and in the parking lot at the time.

Cabato said a parks employee measured the distance from the firing line to the point where the arrow landed and found it was 532 feet away.

Stelmach, a regular player at the courts, said he found the archer, who said he was taught to point the arrow toward the sky and lower it to the target before releasing it. But the man released the arrow prematurely, sending it over to the courts.

Stelmach said the archer was a novice using a powerful, 75-pound hunting bow. Police were called and made a report.

Some tennis players said the range should be closed because it’s too close to the popular tennis center, which is used by children and adults.

But some tennis players supported having the range.

Ricky Wonder, another regular at the courts, said the city should keep the range open because a lot of people use it.