A Kokua Line column detailing the city’s inability to repair broken water heaters at city swimming pools and parks around Oahu due to budgetary limits got philanthropist Abigail Kawananakoa so distressed that she reached for her pocketbook.
Now she’s hoping others will do the same.
Kawananakoa last week agreed to foot the $30,000 bill to repair or replace the water heater for the showers next to the pool at Manoa Valley District Park, much to the joy of the Manoa pool community that has had to endure cold showers since the heater broke down last summer.
What’s more, Kawananakoa in an email to the Star-Advertiser indicated that she may be willing to help repair other pool heaters.
"I am willing to provide additional help but hope that others in the community with the resources and public spirit to contribute will also do so," she said. "If the (c)ity will move promptly and those who can step forward, all of the pools will have hot water within a few weeks."
On Friday, city spokesman Jesse Broder Van Dyke said that city Parks Director-designate Toni Robinson was out of the office and unavailable for comment. Broder Van Dyke said he was unable to find out how many city pools islandwide had heaters in need of repair, or how many pools are closed because of disrepair.
Kawananakoa said she picked Manoa to help first because it appeared to have the greatest need, noting that it is used largely by the elderly and youth and in an area that can become cold quickly because of the tradewinds blowing through the Koolau Mountain Range into the valley.
"Local people have been increasingly kept from enjoying Hawaii," Kawananakoa said. "The beaches have become overcrowded, the parks are neglected, and the need (for) outdoor recreation seems to have been forgotten."
Kawananakoa said she’s bothered that because health regulations require swimmers to shower before entering a pool, it would be an impediment and deterrent for swimmers, especially during winters in Manoa.
Indeed, swimmers at the pool on Friday were asking each other what the temperature gauge was showing before they jumped in. When one regular was told it was 73 in the pool, he gave a quick shiver before he jumped in.
Cathy Iwami, who’s been swimming at the Manoa pool for decades, knows what it’s like to step into the water after a cold shower.
"The last time I came here I got sick," said Iwami, 60. Others have also turned away from the pool.
Iwami and other regulars, including members of the pool’s senior citizens club, were told by park officials to talk to their Council representative, Ann Kobayashi.
Kobayashi, chairwoman of the Council Budget Committee, told Iwami she did not think the city’s budget situation would allow for fixes to the city’s pool heaters this year but that money might be available next year.
Iwami said she and her friends then decided to form a nonprofit group to try to raise money for the repairs. But when park officials told them it would take $30,000 to $40,000, they got discouraged.
"We thought it was going to be $2,000, $3,000," she said. "None of us have that kind of money."
Paul Patek, a 64-year-old Manoa resident, said he was annoyed that the city allowed the problem to fester.
"You’ve got an expensive resource which you discourage people from using," he said. "It just doesn’t make sense."
Manoa pool manager William Gardner began putting out a pot of coffee in an enclosed area between the pool and the showers.
Gardner said between 200 and 300 people use the pool daily, and as many as 400 a day during the summer.
Mayor Kirk Caldwell, also a Manoa resident, is among those who know about the cold shower situation.
"I, too, have shivered in the pool’s shower and I want to see the heater fixed," Caldwell said in a statement. "Every city department must make tough decisions about how best to use their limited budgets, so Princess Kawananakoa’s donation is a big help and much appreciated, and Councilmember Kobayashi’s leadership has helped to move this forward."
It’s unclear how quickly the city will be able to fix the heater even with the donation. Broder Van Dyke said with Robinson out of the office and unavailable for comment Friday, he could not provide an answer.
However, Caldwell said in the statement he released through Broder Van Dyke: "I will be meeting with the Parks Department about this next week to move forward with repairs."
Kobayashi, who said she was approached by Kawananakoa after the Feb. 15 Kokua Line, was told by parks officials that their first priority was to repair restroom fixtures, and then water heaters.
"If it wasn’t for this article, we wouldn’t have had this donation," she said.
Kobayashi said she is hopeful Kawananakoa and others will be able to add more funding to help with city repairs, noting that she was told the Kailua and Salt Lake pools also are in need of repairs. There are also city restrooms that need to be repaired, she added. "The city just does not have the money to keep up with it all."
But Kobayashi also emphasized that she could not urge people to donate only to city projects, noting that there are many nonprofit organizations in Hawaii worthy of donations.
Community organizations are known to "adopt" parks and roads, in essence taking charge of their maintenance, but Kobayashi said Kawananakoa’s donation is the first she knows of from an individual.
Kawananakoa is a descendant of Queen Kapiolani and a major heir to the Estate of James Campbell.
