Pearl City pool closure to last through 2022

HONOLULU (KHON2) — The water in Pearl City District Park’s pool was still green on Thursday, Sept. 15.

A 2018 repair project — scheduled to last one year — unveiled other issues that prolonged the closure.

The switch gear, electrical bonding and exhaust fan are just some of the issues at the Pearl City District Park pool. The Honolulu Department of Parks and Recreation posts biweekly updates online and said the closure is expected to last through 2022.

“So, it’s probably going to be through the rest of the year, this calendar year, that the pool will remain closed. Certainly when we get closer to opening the pool, we’ll announce it,” said DPR spokesman Nate Serota.

Serota said the algae-filled water will not be drained; It will be shock-treated with chlorine and other chemicals instead.

“And then we’ll test it several times to make sure that it can be used before we reopen it to the public,” Serota said.

Kupuna in the area said four to five years is much too long for them to wait — especially when the expected timeline was about 12 months.

“We’re talking about the kupunas and some of them are really up there in years and they really want to, you know, see this done. It’s been just too long,” lifelong Pearl City resident Karen Yim said.

The closure is also a burden to keiki, according to Pearl City mom Johnelle Chon.

“Even just talking with my son about it, his comment was that it’s disgusting,” Chon said, “and it’s a waste in the sense that a lot of this too, is our taxpayer dollars.”

The DPR said the Pearl City pool was a learning experience for them and they will take a much broader look at other projects going forward.

“Knowing that we need to do a comprehensive look at the bonding, at the pool decking, at the exhaust rooms, at the pool pump rooms, to make sure that everything’s in working order,” Serota said. “So, that instead of doing things piecemeal, like we are at Pearl City, that we can have a more comprehensive contract to address them in one fell swoop.”

Residents want to look to the future and officials said they have the same goal.

“You know, looking at the past, the past is the past. Just hoping that they can move forward and plan accordingly,” Yim said.

“We don’t have parks just for them to be eye candy or for them to be conservation purposes, we want people to use them,” Serota said.