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The Demise of the Kapahulu Skatepark
an editorial by Alisdair Low
October 11, 1999
| The opinions expressed in this editorial are the property of Alisdair Low and have no association with HSA, 50-50, the YMCA, the DMV or any state-run agencies. |
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Two weekends ago (the weekend of September 4, 1999) the YMCA Kapahulu Skateboard Park closed down for an undisclosed amount of time while road work commenced on the H1 freeway above. The skate park existed under the H1 freeway overpass, at the intersection of Kapahulu and Harding, across from Market City. The refurbishment of the H1 makes skateboarding unsafe in this area for the duration of the work. This is a tragedy for so many skateboarders. What is truly upsetting for those who run and upkeep the facility is the manner in which they were informed of this situation and the swift and complete destruction of all the work they have put into the skatepark.
 The Kapahulu skate park has existed for the last two years but took the skate volunteers a whole year prior to this of battling through red tape and bureaucracy with the local government to not only prove the necessity of this facility, but also to make it feasible from a liability and profitability standpoint.
To successfully accomplish this, the volunteers formed a group called HSA (the Hawaii Skatepark Association) and teamed together with the central YMCA to help run the park. The park was now able to operate under a charitable status, and offer insurance coverage for the skateboarders. In my long standing history of skateboarding and work within local government (I worked as a greenskeeper for Edinburgh council for seven years) I have never witnessed such a bureaucratic mountain for anyone to climb. Ultimately the HSA (and YMCA) were successful in their goals and the skate park was created.
 When the skatepark was first opened, it was credited as a pet project of Honolulu mayor Jeremy Harris' administration. Although the permits needed signing, and the area deemed suitable by the state for a skatepark, the skatepark was neither state-constructed, state-funded, nor state-run. Other officials also leapt onto the publicity bandwagon when the skatepark was flavor of the month.
The skate park had a number of problems from the outset. The land had to be shared with other existing governmental departments (the Department of Motor Vehicles). The land the skate park occupied at the weekend had to be kept clear through the week to test cars and motorbikes. therefore the majority of the ramps had to be portable. Another restriction was no ramp building close to the pillars holding up the freeway. The floor surface of the park was not ideal as their is a great deal of loose stones and worn tarmac around. The skate park was only open at the weekends and only in daylight, thus limiting the availability of the facility to a great deal of skaters.
Hawaii serves as a landmark for international skateboarding. Skateboarding is the little cousin of surfing. Some of the most talented Skateboarders in the world come from the islands, though most of them go to the mainland to maintain and improve their performance. Unfortunately Hawaii is decades behind the rest of the United States with regards to official skate facilities. This, for such a popular pastime on Oahu is highly embarrassing. (even Maui has three official skate facilities.) With the demise of the Kapahulu facility their really only two alternatives for the majority of skate boarders in and around Honolulu. The alternatives are to quit or to illegally ride the streets, running the risk of injury, assault and arrest. Kapahulu was a place where young skaters could go with relative safety.
There were skaters there who could teach and encourage the less proficient skaters. It was a place where parents could leave their children comfortable in the knowledge that their kids would not be run over by traffic, get in trouble with the police or threatened by other youths. Kapahulu built up a membership of over 500. This proving that there was more than a small demand for this skate park.
Inevitably some skate boarders were unhappy with the park. Some said the design was not too good due to the confinements of the area. Some objected to having to pay to skate. Some preferred to street skate downtown or at Aala park (a leftover concrete facility that looks more like a rollerdisco rink than a modern day skate park). A few skateboarders lucky enough to have access to Hickam air force base can use the facilities there (though how many eleven year old skateboarders have the means to get on base?). However no skater would deny that they would prefer to have some kind of facility rather than none. The skaters themselves created problems for the volunteers. Frustrated skateboarders through the week would break in at night and assemble the ramps to skate in the dark! This would result in a phone call from the DMV to the volunteers in the morning to come and remove the ramp from their testing area.
 A number of break-ins at the skatepark by more serious burglars resulted in all the power tools used to construct the park being stolen. This meant that the daily upkeep and advancement of the parks facilities was greatly inhibited. The burglars also used the skatepark as a way to break into some of Kapahulu's neighbors! The unofficial blame for this has been slung around and has landed at the skateboarders feet.
Due to communication problems between the government, the YMCA and the volunteers, the engineers working on the H1 on Monday the 13th destroyed the majority of the ramps at the park when they required to work around the space they were occupying. The estimated cost of materials destroyed or damaged reaches approximately $15,000. The amount of free time put in by the volunteers goes into thousands of hours. I know this because i myself have put a great deal of time and effort into this skate park.
Why no-one thought to inform the volunteers well in advance is a mystery. The majority of these ramps could have been saved if time and care was taken over deconstruction. Why the skatepark has to close while the DMV remains open is another puzzle that the volunteers cannot quite grasp. If it is potentially dangerous for skaters then it must be equally dangerous for motorcycle and car testing also. Where was Jeremy Harris supporting his pet project when the volunteers needed him?
What is to happen in the future is up in the air. No-one knows if the skate park will reopen, if there will be finances to provide new materials to build with. Even if this opportunity arises again It is very difficult to motivate yourself a second time when you see the fruits of your labor squashed in an instant.
As you can see, this is not an unbiased piece of writing. I feel that it is shocking behavior that the local government cannot build a permanent facility suitable in the first place. When i see that 10 million dollars are being spent refurbishing the natatorium, to let people to swim in salt water (What is that big blue thing surrounding the islands called the ocean for?) With that kind of money you could easily build 250 skateparks. I realize that it is unfair to make light of the natatorium as this is a landmark and a monument to those who died in the war, in fact i am all for local government spending money on things such as this, though i would hope that even a little of the money would come the skateboarders way. The official local government adhoc committee for skateboarding has been considering proposals for potential sites for a skate park for at least two years with absolutely no progress. The government has already made countless basketball parks, tennis courts, soccer fields, why isn't there one skateboard specific facility in Honolulu? (the facilities in Ewa and Waianae do not count, they are too far out the way and they are poorly constructed for nearly the whole skate population of Honolulu) In the near future i can predict a steep rise in arrests in the Waikiki area for criminal damage to property and trespassing due to skaters with nowhere else to go. I suspect before too long there will probably be a few nasty accidents involving children, skateboards and cars. It truly feels that skate boarders have put in a fantastic amount of effort to create an ideal situation for there pastime only to be repeatedly slapped in the face by those with power and money.
I have visited the islands from Scotland for a total of six months now in the past three years. I will leave this time knowing full well that the skateboarders of Hawaii are intelligent, hard working, good fun people with no proper support from there government. We in Scotland may not have your weather but at least we have facilities that are legal and well thought out. My respect goes to those who have repeatedly tried to let their creativity flourish through their passion for skateboarding even when the powers that be are stood firmly against them.
This article appeared in the Honolulu Weekly newspaper, in the October 11-18, 1999 issue.
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