It was 5:47 p.m., Monday. I know, because I looked at my cell phone, hands on my sore knees after I ran out of beach at the start of Kalama Park in Kihei from the north. It was a light and unfortunately wheezy jog to a park that is fortunately on the beach.

But I had discovered my first fully intact sea shell in nearly a year of beach jogs here. So I was already feeling even more, “Wow, it’s dumb luck I live on Maui,” than usual.

When I came up on the park, I was wowed more (Maybe it was my loper’s high.). The real reason was actually on one of my motives for loving newspapers: Here was another forum for a community to interact, to learn, to have fun, to grow. It was Romanesque in the sense of commonwealth.

Where I’m from, public parks never quite seem live up to the promise Kalama delivers daily on South Kihei Road.

The facilities get used in Minnesota, fer sure, ya. But never all at once like at Kalama. To the naked eye, nearly every weeknight might confuse one into thinking there’s an interisland tournament or festival going on there.

There are children, families, coaches and couples. It is fantastic and alive. It is community.

The facilities aren’t all perfect, the field conditions are a little rough and hard. And the baseball/softball players suffer with some rusting backstops, ho-hum dugouts and could-do-better infields.

However, the tennis and basketball courts are excellent (although it would be nice to have a tennis practice wall).

The basketball courts are particularly electric. When the sun goes down, and the timed lights go on, it can be leagues, pick-up or full-on demonstrations replete with miked up MC’s and filled bleachers. One evening, I watched what looked like a women’s college team absolutely deconstruct some local boys.

Past the massive humpback whale sculpture and across the rock footbridge, is past perhaps the most consistently used part of Kalama year round, the skate park.

I’ve got a friend who owns an indoor skate park back in Minneapolis. These kids are hardly all punks. It’s athletics, extreme skill, ad-hoc after-school program and potential training grounds for the pros.

My personal favorite spot is next, the inline skating rink. Palm trees, music and hockey three nights a week. There’s open skate, too. Come on down.

The pavilion nearby frequently hosts jam bands, the green space is a place for church and AA groups to meet. The new jungle gym (the last one was torched by dunderheads) is choke these days and hardly a covered picnic table isn’t hosting a b-day party or reunion of some sort.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen the beach volleyball court empty. It might be the most used part of Kalama, aside from The Cove’s consistently light swells that are great for beginners and paddlers.

However, all this growth in body and spirit for children and families, has stretched into the realm of literal. Kalama is considered by most to be overused yet under-funded, even though Kihei has one of the fastest expanding populations on the island.

But there’s a plan to help remedy the situation, although some worry whether it will come to fruition despite the promises of the current administration.

The South Maui Regional Park will not rest on the shores of the Pacific, but its 40 acres will have views of the ocean several blocks mauka Kalama along Piilani Highway. The park’s estimated $30 million price tag eventually will buy three lighted soccer pitches, another three regulation softball fields and a 1,000-seat gym as well as more tennis and b-ball as well as plenty of leafy places and spaces for children and senior programs.

Construction on the first phase begins in January, and it should be completed in 12 years. A long time, no doubt. But Kalama wasn’t built in a day either.