WAILUKU - It's been said before but never backed up to the degree it was this week by county officials: Construction on the West Maui Skate Park in Lahaina is going to begin this year.
Maui County Budget Director Fred Pablo, two County Council members as well as a West Maui Taxpayers Association board member and local skateboard advocate said the county will, finally, after more than a decade of work on the project, have the $1 million needed to build the 15,000-square-foot park next to the Lahaina Aquatic Center.
The plan is to put the skate park project out for construction bids in April, with release of complete funding in July, said West Maui Taxpayers Association skate park task force head Pam English on Thursday. Construction is expected to take several months.
"It's incredibly exciting," English said.
Lahaina Skate Co. owner Donovan McNab spearheaded the effort for five years. He said he never dreamed he'd encounter so many delays and so much government minutia when he first started working on the project.
"I have complete faith that this is going to happen," McNab said Thursday. "I almost lost faith, but it has been completely restored now."
The county already paid Seattle-based Grindline Skateparks Inc. $100,000 in 2007 to design the skate park. The plans feature two concrete bowls, much like empty swimming pools, set side by side with a street course that will curl around to the side. Admission will be free to the skate park, to be built to withstand West Maui's beating sun and strong winds.
The park's future came into focus Tuesday, when the County Council Budget and Finance Committee amended the fiscal year 2010 capital improvements project budget to include $520,000 for development of the skate park. The allotment is $20,000 more than what was placed in the previous year's budget; the original $500,000 had expired while county officials labored to secure matching funding.
The National Park Service has indicated it will give the county in the next couple months a matching $480,000 grant from its Land and Water Conservation Fund, Pablo and English said.
Pablo said the county must act swiftly now. Officials have until year-end to start construction or the funding will lapse, Pablo said.
Budget Committee Chairman Joe Pontanilla said the committee voted unanimously to advance what he deems a noncontroversial project. The skate-park funding next will go before the entire County Council in the next several weeks, he said.
English said volunteers worked closely with the county Parks and Recreation Department to secure matching federal dollars after fundraising efforts fell considerably short.
"It was a daunting task to come up with half a million dollars, so when we heard about the park service grant, we started work on it," said English, who knows the real estate business well as Maui Land & Pineapple Co.'s development manager.
Much paperwork was needed to get the grant, but English said the application process is nearly complete, including an environmental assessment. The assessment did not turn up any sticky issues, she said.
Federal requirements included free use of the facility, land surveys and assessments; so Parks Department officials had to delay construction for 18 months.
County spokeswoman Mahina Martin said the project is moving forward but was delayed by concerns raised by federal officials regarding funding for the project. The concerns are being addressed and involve a land exchange and appraisal, she said.
"We are as anxious as the soon-to-be skate park users and doing everything we can to expeditiously meet the new and unexpected requirements given us by the federal agency," she said.
The county's $520,000 will come from park-assessment fees from developers and the general fund, said Pontanilla, who holds the council's Kahului residency seat.
For more than 15 years, West Maui skateboarders have rallied, petitioned, hosted skate jams and donated their spare change toward building a skate park.
Maui County had a portable skate park in West Maui, but it fell into disrepair, said Council Member Jo Anne Johnson.
This time around, either the Boys & Girls Club or the Parks and Recreation Department will be responsible for the skate park, said Johnson, who holds the council's West Maui residency seat.
The county has other skate parks at Keopuolani Park in Kahului, Paia Youth & Cultural Center, and Kalama Park in Kihei. For West Maui skateboarders to use those facilities, they and often their parents must drive across the pali, English said. Skateboarding is illegal in most other public settings, such as sidewalks.
Pontanilla said despite these difficult economic times, the skate park project is important because it not only creates a safer environment for the skateboarders, but also keeps a county promise to the group, most of whom are young people.
"I'm hoping that before I leave office (at year-end due to term limits), we stop talking about things, and we actually do them," Johnson said. "I'm hoping and praying another monkey wrench isn't thrown into the works to delay this project. But I don't think there will be."
* Chris Hamilton can be reached at chamilton@mauinews.com.
