It’s been a long time coming. The Ewa community has been waiting a couple years for the doors to open.
"We’ve been pushing the various people to get this moving, there’s been construction issues, material issues, a little bit of funding," said Kevin Rathbun, Ewa Neighborhood Board Vice-Chairman.
Construction was completed nearly 2 years ago and since then it has been sitting empty.
That’s because there were some major problems.
The city said the contractor rerouted the sprinkler system under the tennis courts…stifling the water pressure so there’s not enough for this baseball field.
The baseball field still stands dry and barely usable.
The contractors also had to make changes to the basketball backboards and fix a ramp that wasn’t ADA compliant.
What took so long remains in question as the project from start to finish spanned through three different city administrations.
"There were some change orders and things that needed to be changed with the design, so that led to the delay," said Toni Robinson, City Parks Director.
And the total cost for this project that started off at $8-million is also in question, after asking the parks director and several other administrators.
"No, I don’t have that information," says Robinson.
But despite the problems, Saturday was a time for the community to celebrate new beginnings.
"I was the first one to step foot on this floor in this gym," says Bryson Ramos, Ewa Beach Resident.
"It’s very important to the kids, we praCtice everyday and on the rainy days we have to go inside and practice on the chalk board, so it’s a big deal," says Kalani Apilando, PAL League basketball coach.
And it offers more than basketball courts, there are tennis courts, classrooms, and even a place for arts and crafts.
"They’re going to be able to do ceramics, theres a kiln room. they’ll be able to do dancing and all kinds of recreational activities," says Robinson.
See the original article at: KHON2 Local News
