North Shore NewsIn October 2014 the community painted the John K. Kalili Surf Center at Ali‘i Beach Park as the starting point to preserving the second floor so it could be transformed into a community center. In the following years Chair Emeritus Ernie Martin has included funding in the Council Budget to help with the design and construction, but the Mayor’s office has not released the funds.
A recent engineering inspection of the steel beams that support the roof resulted in a recommendation that the beams be sandblasted and three coats of two-part epoxy paint applied as soon as possible so that the beams would not rust to the point that they would no longer be structurally sound.
The Chamber received a quote of $40,000 for this work and asked the city to release this amount as soon as possible.
The City response was as follows: “An assessment of the building was completed in 2010. The recommendation from the assessment was to demolish the second floor Baywatch prop. The demolition of Baywatch prop and roof repairs came in at 362k and the repair/upgrade to code of Baywatch prop came in at 2.14M. Possibly, DPP (Department of Planning and Permitting) will not be able to grant a permit for the 2.14M project because of the flood zone issue (i.e. for an existing non-conforming project you are allowed to spend up to 50% of the value of the building in repairs). The recommendation is to remove the movie prop and restore the roof. The 40k project to clean and paint might be better spent on fixing the first floor building.
At the October Chamber Board meeting two Board members, Howard Green, of the Haleiwa Marketplace, and Lee Bryant, of North Shore Equipment Rentals, volunteered to co-Chair a committee to prepare a plan for the second floor that will be submitted to the Department of Planning and Permitting for approval. The community will be invited to participate in the planning. Once the plan is approved the goal is for the City to provide some funding for the project and the community to raise some of the funding.
The Chamber Board understands that getting the needed permits and approvals may be a challenge, but believes that necessary compromises can be worked out. We are all aware of the many variances allowed to developers in Honolulu and feel that a community project is entitled to special consideration.
The attendees of the October Chamber membership meeting enthusiastically supported the project and 14 attendees volunteered to join the committee. Friends of Ali‘i Beach have long supported the project and will join in the fundraising efforts.
As soon as we have a plan and a budget, the Chamber will be reaching out to members and the community to help with funding. As the Chamber is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, any donations will be fully tax deductible. Chair Martin has confirmed his intention to include funding again for the project in the next Council budget.
In the short term there is an urgent need for the $40,000 for the sandblasting and painting. Please contact Roxana Jimenez at the Chamber on 808- 637-4558 if you can help with the funding.