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Ewa Residents have long recognized Aunty Arline Eaton and Aunty Mary Serrao’s significant contributions to the Ewa community and have requested that they be recognized for their contributions to the community.  My Resolution 15-143 and Resolution 15-166 passed in The Parks, Community & Customer Services Committee today.  Ewa Residents soon hope to see memorial plaques at Pu’uloa Beach Park, honoring Aunty Arline Wainaha Kuuleialoha Brede Eaton, and Ewa-Puuloa District Park, honoring Aunty Mary Kaipo Malama Serrao, for their notable contributions to the Ewa community.   Your support and testimonies are much needed at  the upcoming July 8, 2015 City Council meeting at Kapolei Hale, where these resolutions, with your help, will be adopted by City Council. Your support in honoring Aunty Arline’s and Aunty Mary’s legacies is greatly appreciated.

 

I am happy to announce that Resolution 14-254 and Resolution 15-142 were recently passed, regarding renaming Ewa Beach Park to Pu’uloa Beach Park and Ocean Pointe District Park to Ewa-Pu’uloa District Park.  According to members of the Ewa community, historically, the name “Pu’uloa” is the traditional name for the area within the Ewa Moku where this park resides and is used by many long-time residents to refer to the community.

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The City hosted a park dedication ceremony on Monday, December 15, 2014 at 10:30 a.m. at the long awaited new District Park in ‘Ewa at the corner of Keone‘ula Boulevard and Ft. Weaver Road.  The park’s official address is 91-201 Kaimele Place.

 

Over ten years in the making, the park open with improvements including basketball courts, volleyball courts, a baseball field, comfort station, and a parking lot with over one hundred stalls.

 

The improvements were gifted to the city by developer Haseko totaling over $5 million dollars.

 

“I am very excited to see the families in our community enjoy this much needed and anticipated new park. Our children are able to have their little league practice and play games immediately in the park because of the generous giving of our community partner.  The park will impact our community for years to come,” said Councilmember Pine.

 

“We are very happy to give this beautiful park to the community to enjoy for years to come.  This new park is a great example of a public private partnership benefiting O‘ahu residents. With millions of dollars of improvements by Haseko, the developer of homes in the area, and with the assistance of the city’s Department of Parks and Recreation, we are pleased to open this new park that ‘Ewa families will enjoy for years to come. I thank Councilmember Kymberly Pine for bringing this project to the finish line so we are able to open the park now,” said Tom Sagawa.

 

The opening of the new park comes at a critical time for the ‘Ewa Community. The James Campbell High School athletic field will close for repairs this month. With a shortage of playing fields in the area, athletic programs were scrambling to find a place to hold practice had the park not opened this month.

Concerned that Oahu residents are still without an Ewa emergency room or a hospital since the closure of Hawaii Medical Center-West (HMC-West) in 2011, two City Councilmembers hosted a briefing with hospital officials and emergency responders, who reported the availability of emergency rooms in the Ewa region.

 

“While we welcome the news that Queens Medical Center will reopen the closed Hawaii Medical Center-West in 2014, it will be more than two years that my community has been without a hospital or an emergency room. Many of my Ewa Beach and Kapolei residents continue to worry about their emergency health needs and the availability of these essential emergency services.  We need to make sure everything is being done to ensure that lives are being saved now,” said Councilmember Pine.

 

Prior to the December 2011 closing, the HMC-West Emergency Room was the second busiest emergency room on the island.

 

HMC-West’s closure has left a devastating and lasting impact on the lives of many Leeward and Central Oahu residents, and has had the disproportionate impact of straining services in other nearby communities.  In addition, many residents are still reeling from the loss of their jobs, their homes, their savings and their self-esteem.

 

Following HMC-West’s closure in late 2011, Councilmember Pine hosted an emergency Town Hall on February 9, 2012 to discuss the impact of the hospital closure with State and City officials, Oahu’s emergency service providers, and the public.