The long-overlooked beach of Sand Island has been placed on the agenda for renovation by the Abercrombie administration and could become a popular park for residents and tourists.

A 400- to 500-slip marina with yacht club and restaurant is the draw for a private developer to be involved in the project, and could result in an important improvement to a valuable piece of Oahu that has largely been ignored.

The relatively few present users of Sand Island are understandably concerned.

"We love it the way it is right now," said Kealii Paiaina, coach of the Kealani Canoe Club. "I hope we’re not going to get displaced by this."

We echo the sentiment that as plans proceed, care be taken to ensure that regular users of the area are not blithely factored out. Already, early buzz is that organizations with temporary permits for other activities, such as a BMX motocross track, may be forced out.

The proposed improvements include expansion of the existing boat launch next to the present motocross track, new canoe pavilions, a canoe-kayak center, boat storage and repair facilities, as well as an ocean activity center, the marina and store and shoreline access to the state park. The $29 million proposal also includes a marina administrative office and other facilities.

Once called Quarantine Island for ships suspected of carrying diseases, the island was used to camp Japanese-American citizens during World War II. Since then, it has been a picnic destination of island hoi polloi and, recently, the homeless. Tourists have been warned by some that while the beach is never crowded, it happens to lie below the Honolulu Airport flight path. Even renovated, it is not likely to draw an overabundance of visitors from Waikiki.

The idea of renovating the southwest side of Sand Island was born two years ago during the Lingle administration. William J. Aila Jr., present chairman of the Department of Land and Natural Resources, says the project’s "community-based planning for improved management and upkeep of state recreational is a leading object of the Abercrombie administration’s ‘New Day’ plan."

If this proposal does come to successful fruition in the near future, both administrations will have earned pats for improving this diamond-in-the-rough site.

Aila’s department began holding hearings on the proposal for the 48-acre shoreline and 25-acre marina Wednesday and Thursday and plans further presentations. An environmental impact statement will be needed and construction could begin as early as two years from now.

Some skeptics of the proposal sneer at the involvement of a private investor but that has become a welcome necessity in today’s economy. The state, though, must be vigilant to ensure that the developer keeps the revenue in Hawaii, and on the environmental front, that easy and abundant shoreline access is preserved for all.

Trying to monetize a prized public asset cannot come at the expense of prized public access.