City hopes to purchase eyesore along Pearl Harbor Historic Trail and create neighborhood park

HONOLULU, Hawaii (HawaiiNewsNow) - An eyesore along a notorious bike path in Pearl City could soon become a park.

"Our whole overall goal is to clean up that area,” said Honolulu City Councilman Brandon Elefante.

On Wednesday, the city council budget committee passed a resolution that would create funding to purchase about half an acre along the Pearl Harbor Historic Trail and transform it into a neighborhood park.

"The whole goal and overall vision is really to activate the Pearl Harbor Historic Trail,” Elefante said. “We wanted to really create a place that opens up to the shoreline … so that people can go there and see the shoreline of Pearl Harbor.”

The Pearl Harbor Historic Trail is about 18.5 miles long from Waipahu to Aloha Stadium.

Much of it is surrounded by squatters, illegal dumping and drugs.

The property the city is hopes to buy from two brothers for about $1.2 million is next to the Pearl City rail station.

"You could go up there and get off the rail station, maybe go an read a book out there, maybe have a sip of coffee, enjoy the scenic view of Pearl Harbor,” said Elefante.

Others worry it will become another place for homeless to hang out.

James Ro runs the trail at least twice a week and thinks the $1.2 million can be better spent somewhere else.

"I definitely think parks are always great to have. But visibility wise, I don't really know who's going to see it from the street. Logistically, parking, I don't where they're going to, are they going to build another parking area here,” Ro said.

The resolution is expected to go before the full city council for a vote next month.

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