![Safety facility for coastal area in the city gets underway on the Windward coast Safety facility for coastal area in the city gets underway on the Windward coast](https://i0.wp.com/www.staradvertiser.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/web1_CTY-ocean-safety-groundbreaking-2450.jpg?w=1200&resize=1200,0&ssl=1)
Honolulu Ocean Safety made history Thursday with a blessing ceremony for a groundbreaking $2.5 million project – the first facility designed for lifeguard services in its 107-year history.
The 10,000-square-foot lot at Lanikai will house a single-story center for lifeguard equipment storage and ocean safety operations, serving as a windward center from the Mokapu Peninsula to Waimanalo Bay.
James Howe, former director of Honolulu Emergency Services and retired chief of Honolulu Ocean Safety, said about 13 years ago the Kailua community approached the state Department of Parks and Recreation regarding ocean safety concerns, including drownings, injuries and deaths around Popoia Island, also known as Flat. Island and Mokulua Island.
DPS then contacted Honolulu Ocean Safety Services, where the team began studying what should be done to address the concerns, Howe said.
“There was a camera on those islands monitoring the activity for almost two years,” Howe said. “And we learned a lot.”
Retired Honolulu Ocean Safety Lt. Tony Ho told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that he has been planning and waiting for this project for a long time.
Ho has been working on the project since 2018, reviewing all possible plans for the facility to ensure efficiency.
“We looked at about 15 different designs on these things, and what it was supposed to do and how it was supposed to make everything work,” Ho said during the press conference.
Aka Tamashiro, who has been a lieutenant with Honolulu Ocean Safety for 18 years, called this project a “huge” improvement from where the team started.
Tamashiro said the new facility will serve not only as a lifeguard center, but also as a possible storage site for specific equipment needed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
The Ocean Safety team had been operating for about six years out of a small closet located between two bathrooms near Buzz’s Original Steak House, across from Kailua Beach.
Tamashiro recalled that working in that space was a challenge, especially since pipe leaks were a recurring problem. There were cases where the team encountered wastewater containing fecal matter when leaving their workspace.
“It was a really small room, it was like 5 by 12 feet, and you could just hear the toilets running all day,” rescue operator Dylan Gleed told the Star-Advertiser. “More recently, we acquired this property here on the side of the hill and they decided that in the meantime they were going to give us containers.”
The team currently stores their equipment, including a jet ski, in the green bins next to the Kailua Beach parking lot on Aala Road.
“By running out of the container, we have no running water or electricity. “We are running out of solar-powered batteries,” Gleed said. “It’s a really limited space. So basically we have to run our units with the bare minimum.”
Additional equipment is stored at Kalama Beach Park, but transporting it to locations further away from Kailua Beach Park and beyond is time consuming.
Gleed and Tamashiro said current poor storage arrangements mean trucks and jet skis are frequently vandalized or involved in accidental collisions with other vehicles.
Gleed, with eight years of experience as a rescue operator and since 2012 as a lifeguard, said a dedicated facility, which is strategically located to launch jet skis with a boat ramp directly in front, for his team would significantly improve their ability to help the public. . who are in need.
“It’s nice to finally have a facility where we can keep everything safe and properly maintain all of our equipment,” Gleed said.
Kahu Dennis Sallas, a retired Honolulu Ocean Safety lifeguard with 30 years of service on the Windward side of the island, blessed the ground.
Construction is expected to begin Monday, with work scheduled from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, and is anticipated to be completed and open by summer 2025. A temporary construction fence will be installed during the initial week to control dust emissions.
The facility itself will be 800 square feet and will consist of two office rooms, a bathroom, a kitchenette, a board storage room and two roll-up garages for storing trucks and jet skis.
“It’s a historic week with the establishment yesterday of the Department of Ocean Safety and the signing of a resolution to put on the ballot whether or not voters would like to have a commission on ocean safety,” said Council Member Esther Kia’aina. “And of course, in the coming months we will have a lifeguard position with a team at Kalama Beach Park.”
“I would like to see more facilities on the North Shore and Waianae Coast and other areas of Oahu provide safety to all of our citizens and visitors.”
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