By Staff Reports
(O‘AHU) – O‘ahu park users are invited to take part in a community survey to gauge public sentiment regarding a robust baseball/softball field maintenance program designed to improve the condition of the 12 diamond-shaped fields at Patsy T. Mink Central O‘ahu Regional Park (CORP).
Currently, the high utilization of these dozen ball diamonds (which includes three clusters of four ball fields for: adult baseball, softball, and youth baseball) has outpaced the existing maintenance program, as they are used year-round and are not given time to rest or rehabilitate. In most other municipalities off-season weather enables park staff to rest their fields from the regular wear-and-tear of recreational use on an annual basis.
As a result, the Honolulu Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) is now proposing an annual maintenance program to raise the quality of these outdoor amenities. The proposed plan calls for a three-month, summertime closure of two ball fields from June through August. Summer is an ideal season for grass growth and is a less-popular period for field usage. This proposal is initially intended to last six years, beginning in June 2023. The success of the program will determine whether the proposed annual maintenance program will continue or be curtailed. The exact ball diamonds closure schedule will be determined to minimize impact to field users, including only one field per cluster closed at a given time.
In order to gauge community feedback and provide transparency to these proposed actions, DPR is seeking comment and support from the ball field users and general public through a survey. This survey can be accessed online at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CORP808
Physical copies of the survey are also available from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday:
CORP Main Office
94-801 Kamehameha Highway
Waipahū, HI 96797
The survey will be live until 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday, January 31, 2023.
To read a full copy of the proposed maintenance field maintenance program click here or visit: bit.ly/MaintainCORP
Opened in 2001, this 267-acre park is one of DPR’s largest and most premier park locations. In addition to the dozen ball diamonds, it also houses the: K. Mark Takai Veterans Memorial Aquatics Center, the 20-court Jarand M. W. Iwase Tennis Complex, an 12,800 square foot off-leash dog park, a 20-lane archery range, several playgrounds, bathrooms, and multi-purpose fields all encompassed by a walking path.
It is named after the late Patsy T. Mink; the first wahine Congressmember representing Hawai‘i, the first woman of color & first Asian-American in the U.S. House of Representatives (to name a few of her many accolades). Amongst her many accomplishments, Mink is recognized as a visionary leader and major author of Title IX Law, ensuring equality in educational opportunities and scholastics sport activities.
If you need an auxiliary aid/service, other accommodations due to a disability, or an interpreter for a language other than English in reference to this announcement, please contact the Honolulu Department of Parks and Recreation at (808) 768-3003 on weekdays from 7:45 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. or email parks@honolulu.gov.