I’m deeply saddened about the possibility of the permanent closure of the Children’s Discovery Center due to unsustainable attendance because of the presence of drug-addicted and mentally unstable homeless who have resisted outreach services and refuse to leave (“Homeless may force center to close,” Star-Advertiser, Island Voices, Jan. 16).

If this situation existed at the Honolulu Zoo, Bishop Museum or Iolani Palace, there would be a rightly deserved howl of public outrage.

The problem is solvable. It demands a strong will by the city and/or state to do everything possible or, like the Marines, impossible, to provide increased security and clean-up maintenance. Immediately. Permanently. It may be costly, but nowhere near as incalculable as the cost of losing our cherished center.

That delightful building, filled with joyous laughter, welcomes, inspires and unleashes the playful imagination of children (and the inner child of the adult), found nowhere else for 2,500 miles.

Please keep the center’s star on the cheerful yellow smokestack and the smiling sun logo shining brightly as a beacon for our children.

Linda Hunter

Honoka‘a, Hawaii island

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