HONOLULU -- The Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) will begin a second phase of renovation work at Sand Island State Recreation Area comfort stations starting Wednesday, August 2, 2006. The comfort stations are located near the non-camping, day use areas of the park.
“Sand Island is one of the most popular state parks on O‘ahu,” said Peter Young, DLNR chairperson. “These renovations are part of the Lingle-Aiona Administration’s focus on improving park conditions to meet accessibility standards, sewer improvements, and upgrade our facilities.”
The park will remain open, but the comfort stations affected will be closed during construction, including showers at Comfort Station Nos. 4 and 5. To minimize inconvenience to park users, DLNR will schedule construction to close one set of showers at a time, and showers will also be available at Comfort Station No. 2, during the weekends.
“We appreciate the public’s patience as we improve our park facilities for residents to enjoy,” said Young. “We believe these changes will be welcomed by the public. And we hope this will encourage park users to help care for the facilities and leave them in good, clean condition for other park users.”
Renovations to four other existing comfort station will include repairs to floor and wall tiles, repair of toilet partitions and accessories, new paint, new roofing, and new accessible elements, including showers.
The contractor is Perfecto Engineering & Contracting Services, Inc. and project cost is $793,971.59, with construction estimated to take a year.
Phase I Improvements Moving Forward
DLNR is currently working on improvements at comfort stations #2 and #3 in the camping area.
Improvements have already been made to damaged restroom partitions, exterior stone wall masonry, outdoor sinks and security doors. Alterations were also made to provide accessible toilets, showers, and benches.
New lavatories, urinals, toilets, and showers were installed. In addition, the comfort stations received a new coat of paint and seal coating, floor and wall tiles were renovated, and roof and rain gutter sections were replaced.
Work on the first phase is expected to be completed by the end of October 2006. At that time, nearby camping areas will be reopened to the public.
Earlier this year, DLNR completed sewer line and pump station improvements servicing all the comfort station and facilities at the park.
In January 2005, DLNR began a multi-year initiative to repair, replace or improve facilities at 69 state parks on O‘ahu, Kaua‘i, Hawai‘i, Maui, and Moloka‘i.
This initiative is providing $5 million for statewide parks comfort station renovations, and over $12 million for statewide sewer improvements and large capacity cesspool closures in state parks. It is the first major reconstruction of parks facilities since the state parks system was established over 40 years ago.
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For more information, media contact:
Deborah Ward
DLNR Public Information Specialist
Phone: (808) 587-0320
