Posted on: Monday, November 4, 2002

Kalihi YMCA project advances

By James Gonser
Advertiser Urban Honolulu Writer

The YMCA is moving forward with plans to build a $4.5 million facility to replace its aging Kalihi Street building and expects to break ground on the project by the end of next year.

This illustration shows what the YMCA in Kalihi should look like when it's completed. The YMCA expects the project to break ground next year.  Artist rendering via YMCA

The Kalihi project will be the first of a $30 million effort to improve YMCA facilities islandwide, said YMCA president Don Anderson.

New or greatly improved YMCAs are planned in Wai'anae, Waipahu and Kailua. The 51-year-old Central Branch will get a major renovation and the Atherton and Mililani branches will have Americans With Disabilities Act accessibility work done, Anderson said.

The 5,000-square-foot Kalihi YMCA, built in 1946, will be torn down and replaced by a four-story, 16,000-square-foot building with enough room to serve more youths and hold programs for pre-teens and teens simultaneously instead of different times because of space limitations.

The Kalihi YMCA serves between 4,000 and 5,000 young people a year, Anderson said.

The new building will include a youth lounge and fitness room, study rooms, children's areas and offices and administration space.

"Kalihi is a youth-serving facility rather than adult service and very centered on pre-teen and teens that get around on bikes and walking," Anderson said. "We are also close to schools. That Y has a real rich history of serving the young people of the community. "The new building, between Bishop Museum and Kalihi-Palama Public Library, will be able to accommodate community gatherings and staff meetings.

The Kalihi YMCA is the home office for about 40 substance abuse and outreach workers who will be moved into portable buildings during construction. The teen center will also be moved to a nearby portable building. Other youth programs will use area schools and parks during the 10-month construction period. All teen programs run by the YMCA are free, but there is a $5 fee for children's summer programs. The group is asking for a variance to have fewer than the required 82 parking spaces for a building of this size because more of the youths either walk to the facility or are dropped off by their parents, Anderson said. The YMCA has 24 spaces, and 52 stalls are planned for the new facility. "We are doubling the amount of parking and we don't even need what we have," Anderson said. "Both Kalihi neighborhood boards supporting the request."

Ken Harding, a Kalihi-Palama Neighborhood Board member, said the parking variance was carefully explained and the board unanimously approved the request. The board is happy to see the group investing in the community, he said.

"They have had not only a continuing impact but a historic impact," Harding said. "They really build leadership and meet the needs of our young people."

Money is coming from several sources, including the state, which has pitched in $1 million for the Kalihi center and $3 million overall; $500,000 in federal Economic Development Initiative money; $1.1 million in city money for the Leeward project; and $1.5 million that has been raised through donations by YMCA board members and staff. Because federal money is involved, an environmental assessment must be completed for the Kalihi project. That report is nearly completed, Anderson said.

Reach James Gonser at jgonser@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2431.

Posted on: Monday, November 4, 2002

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Honolulu Star-Bulletin Star-Bulliten Link - poster Nov 25, 2002 Kalihi YMCA - plans renovation   DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM The "Club 21" teen dance program is one of the success stories at the Kalihi YMCA. Posing last Friday were, in front from left, Ashley Pascua,Dova Rabusa, Shayna Fernandez, Ashley Quemado, Krista Hasegawa, Rhemielyn Mentac and Renee Aquino and, in the back row, Alma Agpaoa, Jordan Bongolan, Rhemie Mentac and Stephanie Barayuga.

A new 4-story building would give more room For children's programs By Genevieve A. Suzuki gsuzuki@starbulletin.com The Kalihi YMCA is trying to raise millions of dollars for an ambitious renovation project aimed at helping children and at-risk teens in its neighborhood. The Kalihi project is just part of a $30 million effort by the YMCA of Honolulu to build new facilities in Waianae and Waipahu and renovate buildings in Central and Leeward Oahu, said Kalihi YMCA Co-executive Director Tony Pfaltzgraff.But Kalihi is first on the list, Pfaltzgraff said. The Kalihi Y's portion of the project will cost $4.5 million, according to Pfaltzgraff. Gov. Ben Cayetano released $1 million in capital improvement funds for the building's renovation because the YMCA runs state-funded programs.The proposed new four-story Kalihi YMCA building will give the organization more room so that it can run children's and teen programs simultaneously during the summer. "Rather than saying to the teens, 'You have to go elsewhere,' this new building would accommodate both teens and elementary school-aged children," said Kalihi Valley Neighborhood Board Chairwoman Maryrose McClelland. Kalihi YMCA teen summer programs usually take place off-site throughout the community, Pfaltzgraff said. The Kalihi-Palama Neighborhood Board supports the plans for the new structure, said Chairwoman Bernadette S.M. Young. "It's helping the teens," Young said. "It's getting the teens off the street." The Kalihi YMCA helped 2,700 teens on Oahu last year, Pfaltzgraff said. Several of its programs are aimed at helping at-risk teens with substance abuse treatment and gang prevention programs. The Kalihi renovation project is targeted for completion by the latter part of next year, Pfaltzgraff said.But the city first has to approve the YMCA's request for a variance regarding the required number of parking stalls.The city requires about 80 parking stalls for a structure the size of the proposed new building, but the current design only has 52 stalls. Pfaltzgraff said the Kalihi YMCA does not need 80 parking stalls because most of its programs target children and teens."They don't use cars to get to our facility," Pfaltzgraff said. "We really think 50 is a realistic number." McClelland said the proposed Kalihi YMCA design will not pose a parking problem for the community. She said she went to check out the area a couple of times and noticed several empty stalls. "The stalls they have now are more than ample," McClelland said. The city Planning & Permitting Department is researching the Kalihi YMCA's request to provide less parking than required under the zoning code, said city spokeswoman Carol Costa.A public hearing will follow the research, Costa said. [back to top]

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TRIANGLE MAGAZINE 2003

download magazine article -(here)

 

KALIHI YMCA ARTICLE

Fighting Substance Abuse

 

"For many years, the YMCA has been a leader in working with youth on drug abuse issues," said President Don Anderson. "Today we have nearly 40 full-time staff members providing counseling and outreach services."

In 1962, the board of the Kalihi YMCA founded the first outreach program to work with teen gang members in Honolulu. Over time, the Kalihi Y added adolescent substance abuse programs funded by state and federal government agencies. The Kalihi Y has been providing substance abuse services for O'ahu teens for over twenty years.

 "Our philosophy is to provide positive peer and adult support for teens, both at their schools and in their communities," said Tony Pfaltzgraff, YMCA Group Vice-President and Co-Executive Director of the Kalihi YMCA. "We provide year-round support in order to reconnect them to family, school and recreational resources in the community."

 The Kalihi YMCA provides accessible, on-campus substance abuse counseling for O'ahu students who are having problems with dependence on substances like marijuana, methamphetamine (Ice) and alcohol. The abuse of drugs or alcohol is associated with increasing violence, early pregnancy, law violations, run-away behavior and victimization.

 "It's a challenge, because teens who use drugs or alcohol tend to select peers who are also users," said Pfaltzgraff. "This increases the strength of negative peer influence and disconnects teens from family or friends who might be a positive influence." Teen substance abuse problems almost always coincide with failure at school and alienation from the family at home. Substance abusing teens are often left with no healthy adult relationships.

 The Kalihi YMCA has developed a comprehensive, year-round program to provide services to middle and high school students at twelve O'ahu school campuses-whether school is in session or not. The twelve schools are Aiea High, Campbell High, Farrington High, Kailua High, Kaimuki High, Leilehua High, Moanalua High, Nanakuli High, Roosevelt High, Waialua High, Waianae High, and Waipahu High.

 Teens who are in trouble with drugs or alcohol are often more at risk during vacations and school breaks. Year-round programs provide consistency and longevity for school- and community-based activities. Programs also provide teens with the opportunity to form healthy relationships with drug-free peers.

 Treatment Strategies

 "Traditional adult, Twelve-Step programs are often not effective with teens," said Pfaltzgraff. "What is effective is encouraging teens to face the consequences of their behaviors through their relationship with a mentoring adult."

 The idea of school-community based programs is to bring treatment to the teens, not to wait for teens to seek help outside their own communities. Students who are in trouble with drugs or alcohol can be referred to the program by anyone, including school counselors, teachers and administrators. In fact, the Kalihi Y has found that the longer their program has been on a campus, the more they get referrals from other students.

 Each teen is given an assessment interview and rated for symptom severity. Group and individual counseling then focuses on helping teens to begin dealing with the consequences of negative behavior. Group work helps give teens the experience of relating to each other in a clean and sober environment. Teens in the program receive a basic drug education curriculum combined with a focus on social and personal skill building. Teens also take part in the "ropes" challenge course at the YMCA's Camp Erdman on O'ahu's North Shore. The program encourages positive, drug-free socialization. This combination of psychological and educational intervention and experience in the community has proven to be a powerful strategy for helping teens to find their way out of negative behaviors.

 "What inspires me most," said Pfaltzgraff, "is the courage I see in the teens we work with. In order to stop using drugs, these young people often have to cut themselves off from their peers-friends they have known throughout their lives. I am impressed with how many teens are willing to risk isolation and loneliness in order to really change and become the person they want to be. We help them make that crucial decision to change, and then we stay with them, encouraging them and supporting them every step of the way."

In order to stop using drugs, these young people often have to cut themselves off from their peers-friends they have known throughout their lives. I am impressed with how many teens are willing to risk isolation and loneliness in order to really change and become the person they want to be.

 Tony Pfaltzgraff

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Programs

 

School-Based Substance Abuse Treatment

 

Through funds provided by the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Division (ADAD) of the State Department of Health, the Kalihi YMCA provides substance abuse treatment services in targeted schools throughout O'ahu. At-risk youth between the ages of 12 and 18 can participate in the program, receiving up to 96 hours of substance abuse treatment services. Enrollment is voluntary and program goals include abstinence, increased education about how drugs and alcohol can affect their lives, and problem-solving and relationship skills. The Kalihi Y has been able to develop long-term credibility with both staff and students at the schools where this program operates.

 

Court-Related Substance Youth Abuse Treatment

 

Through grants from the Office of Youth Services and the Hawaii Family Court of the First Circuit in Honolulu, the Kalihi Y operates substance abuse treatment services for the inmates of the Hawaii Youth Correctional Facility. The program provides assessment and appropriate treatment planning for youth who have patterns of substance abuse involved in their law-breaking activities. Follow-ups are done at three- and six-month intervals after completion of the program.

 

The YMCA also provides assessment, treatment and follow-up service to minors referred by the Family Court in Honolulu. These youth may not be incarcerated, but may be in need of close supervision and active substance abuse treatment to prevent recurrence of legal problems and to improve the school and family situations of these teens. Services include assessment, individual and group therapy, recreational opportunities, and relapse prevention. Clients may continue in the program until clinically discharged.

 

Outreach

 

The Office of Youth Services provides the Kalihi YMCA with funding for a community outreach program targeted at youth who are 10 to 18 years of age located in areas including Waipahu/Ewa, Aiea/Aliamanu and Kalihi/Palama. Youth receive services based on referrals from community members, school personnel, or their own peers. The program targets youth who are experiencing school failure due to truancy, family, legal or delinquency problems. The program aims to connect these at-risk youth with existing resources in the community.

 

After School Teen Drop-In Program

 

The Kalihi YMCA Drop-In Program is available after school for all teens who live in Kalihi and Wahiawa. The services are provided from the time school is out until early evening and on weekends. With activities focused both at the Kalihi Branch and in the community, these teens receive counseling, educational assistance, and experience with positive peer and adult relationships. The activities offered include study hall, dance classes, sports, arts and community volunteer services.

 

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New

B-Central

YMCA gets grant to fight 'ice'

The YMCA of Honolulu got a $350,000 federal grant to prevent crystal meth, or "ice," and inhalant abuse among Hawaii's youth.

 Posted on: Monday, February 6, 2006
Rising costs dog YMCA expansion

By James Gonser
Advertiser Urban Honolulu Writer

A grand opening for the $6.3 million Kalihi YMCA is expected in April. It is the first project in the YMCA of Honolulu's $30 million plan for improving its facilities islandwide.
GREGORY YAMAMOTO | The Honolulu Advertiser

By James Gonser
Advertiser Urban Honolulu Writer

Along with this spacious meeting room, key features of the Kalihi YMCA include new exercise equipment, a kitchen and a teen center. The building also serves as a base for youth-outreach programs.

It took longer and cost a lot more than expected, but the new $6.3 million Kalihi YMCA building is up and running, with the official grand opening expected in April.

The gleaming four-story, 23,000-square-foot facility next to the Kalihi-Palama Public Library has all new exercise equipment and computers, a teen center, a kitchen and meeting space, and is the home of the YMCA's youth outreach programs on O'ahu.

The YMCA of Honolulu is a nonprofit association that serves more than 96,000 children, teens and adults at nine branches on O'ahu.

The Kalihi project is the first in a $30 million effort to improve YMCA facilities islandwide. When construction started two years ago, the cost of the Kalihi Street center was estimated at $4.5 million, but rising material costs and the competitive market for contractors has made capital improvement projects much more expensive, thus the $6.3 million price.

"When the price of the building is going up faster than you can raise the money, it is a little discouraging sometimes," said Don Anderson, past YMCA president and now a volunteer with the organization. "The construction inflation has just been incredible."

The YMCA's second improvement project, a new facility in Waipahu, was expected to cost $8 million, but that price grew by two-thirds.

"The original bids for construction costs started out at $8 million, then it went to $12 million," said Larry Bush, YMCA president. "To stop the bleeding, we've signed a contract for $13.5 million. It's locked in now."

Bush said a shortage of labor, the expansion of military construction projects, and escalating costs of materials and shipping have contributed to the inflated costs.

"The disasters around the world have had an effect on (the availability) of materials," Bush said. "Everybody doing construction is seeing that."

Bush said despite the cost, the YMCA is moving forward with its plans to expand services on the island. As one project is being built, plans for the next are being developed. "Every so often, you have to build new buildings and move to communities that you aren't serving," Bush said.

After the Waipahu project, a facility in Wai'anae is planned, followed by expansions of the Central and Kailua YMCAs.

"I don't think we will ever be able to stop," Bush said. "It's finishing (construction on) one before starting another one, but always having them all on the table and continuing to work toward the ultimate completion of all of them."

The Kalihi Y, which opened in 1946, had not had adult members, but about 100 adults have joined after seeing the new building.

Dave Mielke, 62, said he saw the new Kalihi YMCA while driving by and stopped in to check out the facility. The retired Salt Lake resident joined two weeks ago and uses the weight room and the cardio room.

"I decided to try and tone myself up," Mielke said.

In 1962, Kalihi YMCA's first outreach program began to work with gang members in Honolulu. Over time, it has added adolescent substance-abuse programs funded by the Family Court, the Office of Youth Services and the state Department of Health.

Tony Pfaltzgraff, co-executive director of the Kalihi Y, said his program's primary activities now are school-based substance-abuse treatment programs, which are provided at 14 high schools across the island. There also are summer fun and A-plus Programs for younger children.

"Our success as a YMCA branch was really because we had such modest facilities," Pfaltzgraff said. "We had to go out and create relationships in the community. It really forces us to do what people in human services need to do, which is be in the community.

"We have an incredible building here, but the commitment of the staff is to continue to do the community work we have always done."

Kalihi Y manages 70 full-time staff members in its outreach programs, many in satellite offices. Last year, the staff worked with 2,700 teens on O'ahu, about 1,000 in school-based substance-abuse programs.

Reach James Gonser at jgonser@honoluluadvertiser.com.

Along with this spacious meeting room, key features of the Kalihi YMCA include new exercise equipment, a kitchen and a teen center. The building also serves as a base for youth-outreach programs.
GREGORY YAMAMOTO | The Honolulu Advertiser

Theresa Quinores, left, and Maxine Yoro of Kalihi
try out the treadmills at the Kalihi YMCA.
About 100 adults have joined in recent weeks.
JEFF WIDENER | The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted on: Sunday, September 2, 2001

 

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Windward YMCA plans renovation

By Eloise Aguiar
Advertiser Windward Bureau

The Windward YMCA will renovate and expand portions of its facility in Kailua thanks to a $200,000 grant from the Harold K.L. Castle Foundation and $168,000 from other sources.

Projects at the 42-year-old building include enclosing and expanding the fitness center and renovating four bathrooms, said Bill Stone, executive director at the Windward Y.

"The new configuration will provide greater comfort for the Y's 500-plus members and reduce the amount of noise that reaches the neighboring homes," Stone said.

The YMCA will hold a public meeting about the projects at 6:45 p.m. Wednesday at the facility, 1200 Kailua Road. Architect Bryce Uyehara will explain the construction plan.

The plan calls for expanding and enclosing the fitness center, walling off the aerobics room and installing air-conditioning for both spaces. The new space in the fitness room, created by moving the Child Watch room to another location, will be used for treadmills, exercise bikes and other cardiovascular equipment. An 18-foot ramp leading to the fitness center will also be installed. The childcare area room will move to the kitchen area next to the building's back yard.

The renovation also will include refurbishing the facility's two main bathrooms and the pool's bathrooms. The contractor, Constructors Inc., will install a new bathroom for people with disabilities.

Construction should begin Sept. 10 and be completed by Nov. 8.

The contractor will work on one section at a time to minimize disruption to members, Stone said. The fitness center will be closed for a few days during construction.

For more information about the meeting, call the YMCA at 261-0808.



Posted on: Monday, January 27, 2003
Wai'anae YMCA nearing reality

By Will Hoover
Advertiser Leeward O'ahu Writer

In the past six months the YMCA of Honolulu has raised $9 million toward its goal of $33 million to expand the association's presence in underserved communities in Leeward O'ahu.

The YMCA of Honolulu's expansion plan
includes a new facility in Wai'anae,
as shown in this artist's rendering. YMCA

One major benefactor of the scheme is Wai'anae, which has never had a Y but could surely use one, according to Patty Teruya, chairwoman of the planning and zoning committee of the Wai'anae Coast Neighborhood Board.

"I'm going to be the first in line to get a membership," said Teruya, who plans to discuss the facility at the next board meeting. "We need this. We don't have anything like this in Wai'anae. We're all waiting. I see a facility where fellowship is going to begin."

This month, plans for building the $5.6 million Wai'anae facility moved closer to becoming a reality when the city Department of Community Services issued a request for public comment on the Draft Environmental Assessment First Notice.

The goal of building the YMCA facility will be to increase the agency's programs and services to the residents of Wai'anae, and to "positively enhance the social fabric and well-being of the community ... " said a notice for the Office of Environmental Quality Control.

Don Anderson, president of YMCA of Honolulu, said he had no timetable for when construction could begin. That depends on how soon the money is collected, he said. About $1 million is earmarked for the Wai'anae facility, said Anderson. But he has no doubt that the project will be completed within several years.

"This is a community that really needs something like this for the families," said Anderson. "For so long they feel they have been shortchanged in the amenities that so many communities have. And I think they're right; they have been.

"They really have a different reaction than most places where I have been and talked about a nice Y built in their community. It goes beyond excitement. There's more of an emotionally deep feeling that I get out there."

Plans for the Wai'anae YMCA call for a 16,500-square-foot building that will include a group exercise studio, wellness center and computer lab as well as meeting rooms and administrative offices.

The project will create 48 permanent jobs after construction.

Anderson said the agency surveyed about 400 heads of households in Wai'anae and changed its mind about not including a swimming pool in the facility. The survey showed that a pool was so important to folks in Wai'anae that plans were changed to install not one, but two pools.

"We're going to put in a regular 25-meter laned pool, and we're also putting in a children's pool with the slides and swings so that families can go on weekends," Anderson said.

The overall YMCA fund-raising project includes plans to build facilities at Kapolei, Kalihi and Waipahu on Leeward O'ahu, and renovate facilities elsewhere on the island.

Anderson said the Wai'anae survey also showed that 75 percent of the respondents said they would join the Y as families. Those families will find one of the largest YMCA grounds in the state, he said.

"We've got 23 acres on Leihoku Street in Wai'anae, of which six or seven are flat and usable. The rest is hillside and preservation land. But that makes a beautiful backdrop that's really part of the setting. It's right across the street from the Wai'anae Mall Shopping Center."

Reach Will Hoover at whoover@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8038.

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Rural Youth

- Posted on: Monday, January 23, 2006
Agencies take services on road

By Rod Ohira
Advertiser Staff Writer

Camp Erdman staffer Lauri Welch climbs a Spider-Man net that connects to a 40-foot tower in the camp's ropes course.

Cara Mazzei photo


TO LEARN MORE

For additional information about Hawai'i's rural youth crime prevention program, contact the Kalihi YMCA, www.kalihiymca.org, or the Boys & Girls Club of Hawai'i, www.bgch .com.


A new tower structure at the YMCA’s Camp Erdman in Mokulëçia will be incorporated into Hawaiçi’s rural youth crime prevention program. The tower structure and ropes course will be part of a 12-week challenge being prepared for launch by the YMCA and Wahiawä Middle School’s principal.

Cara Mazzei photo


The YMCA of Honolulu and the Boys & Girls Club of Hawai'i are teaming up to establish the state's largest after-school program for middle school students, which will bring services to small, underserved communities on O'ahu and the Neighbor Islands.

The two agencies will split financing and responsibilities tied to a two-year, $6 million federal juvenile crime prevention grant secured by U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye.

"The purpose of the rural youth crime prevention program is for staff to go out to the communities, on the streets and at schools to create a relationship between trained adults and kids just hanging out," said Tony Pfaltzgraff, co-executive director of the Kalihi YMCA. "In rural communities, fewer options are available to kids."

There are about 35,000 middle school students on O'ahu and few after-school programs for them other than athletics, Pfaltzgraff said, adding, "This gives us an opportunity to apply proven ways to intervene."

The crime prevention program will target youths ages 10 to 14 because research over the past 15 years shows that unsupervised youths who do not participate in activities in the hours after school lets out, 3 to 6 p.m., are more likely to experiment with alcohol, drugs and sex, and perform poorly in school, Pfaltzgraff said.

"It's a time when parents exercise less focus on how their kids spend time and young people have less contact with adult role models," he said. "So their decision-making process is being influenced much more by peers than their parents. The tendency is to engage in negative risk-taking behavior, like climbing up three floors of a building to graffiti a wall."

Inouye, D-Hawai'i, pursued the grant as a means to step up drug prevention efforts amid Hawai'i's ongoing crystal methamphetamine troubles, said Jennifer Goto Sabas, chief of staff for the senator's Honolulu office.

The YMCA is developing elements of the crime prevention program with input from school administrators at Wahiawa Middle School, Waialua High & Intermediate, Waipahu High and Waipahu Middle School, and yet-to-be identified schools in Wai'anae.

Boys & Girls Club, meanwhile, has purchased three custom vehicles to bring after-school activities to rural areas on Kaua'i and Maui. The bookmobilelike units, which cost between $85,000 and $90,000 each, are equipped with computers and athletic equipment and feature a foldout panel that can be used as a performing stage or movie screen.

On Kaua'i, where the Boys & Girls Club has building sites in Lihu'e, Kapa'a and Waimea, two mobile units will be used to bring activities to underserved communities such as Koloa and Kekaha. Youths served by the mobiles will be bused once a month to Boys & Girls Clubs to experience on-site activities.

The other mobile will be on the Big Island, where the independent Boys & Girls Club of Hilo is subcontracted to extend services to Honoka'a.

The Boys & Girls Club of Maui, also an independent, is contracted to expand services to Paukukalo Housing in Wailuku. Other plans include a mobile unit for Maui and expansion of programs to Lana'i and Moloka'i.

"Transportation is a huge issue on the Neighbor Islands. We can't build buildings every time we want to reach out and serve a community that's underserved, said David Nakada, Boys & Girls Club of Hawai'i's executive director. "What we are going to do would be impossible without the mobile units."

The mobiles will be available in late March or early April. Outreach efforts on Kaua'i began last month with leased vehicles.

Some ongoing programs, such as Boys & Girls Club's "Smart Moves," which helps young people make wise decisions, cannot stand alone, Nakada said. "You have to make programs around it attractive, like sports or computers, to make them want to come."

Last year, The YMCA enrolled about 225 youths in substance-abuse programs in Wahiawa alone.

As part of the crime prevention program, YMCA staff and Wahiawa Middle School principal Carol White are now preparing to kick off a 12-week challenge that uses a ropes course featuring 35- to 40-foot towers as a tool for lessons in honesty, caring, respect and responsibilities. The challenge starts at ground level, with youths strapped together finding their way out of a maze or taking a blind walk to learn trust. The challenge then moves above ground level, and involves tackling fears.

"The program has great potential," White said of the challenge, which will take place at O'ahu's Camp Erdman.

Both the YMCA and Boys & Girls Club are hiring staff to help implement various parts of the rural youth crime prevention program.

Reach Rod Ohira at rohira@honoluluadvertiser.com

Star-Bulletin staff and wire

Isles to get $73 million for various projects
Congress approved about $73 million for crime-fighting and marine-resource protection programs in Hawaii, according to Sen. Daniel Inouye.
The initiatives, approved yesterday, include measures to consolidate National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration operations, promote astronomy education, aid rural youth outreach and fight crystal methamphetamine.

They were part of the final version of a fiscal year 2006 appropriations bill involving the U.S. Justice and Commerce departments. The 94-5 Senate vote sent the bill to President Bush for his signature.

"These initiatives are vital for the well-being of Hawaii and its residents, and several have a positive impact that go far beyond our island shores," Inouye said in a news release.

The approved funding includes $20 million for the next construction phase of a regional NOAA facility at Pearl Harbor and $7.8 million for research and management of endangered and threatened sea turtles.

Some $3 million will go to the Boys & Girls Clubs and the YMCA of Honolulu to continue their presence in rural or disadvantaged communities throughout the state. An additional $2 million will go toward a statewide program to combat crystal methamphetamine use.

The Mauna Kea Discovery Center will receive $3 million to continue its education program and exhibits.

 

 

Star Bulliten

DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Perry Agudo looks back at Jessie Ramos and Lucy Quiocho, who are preparing the ground that will be the parking lot for the expanded Leeward YMCA.

Leeward YMCA primed for $13.5M growth spurt
By Diana Leone
dleone@starbulletin.com
When Leeward YMCA program director Eric Bautista is planning day-care activities for more than 200 children, he has to be creative.

Bigger and better
For more information about the Leeward YMCA expansion, call Executive Director Manuel Ayala or Associate Director Donna Kranz at 671-6495. An information session for area residents will be held this spring, and the new facility's grand opening is expected in early 2007. Fundraising is ongoing, with individual contributions met dollar for dollar (up to $250,000) by the Henry Clark Challenge Grant.

There is only room inside the Leeward YMCA's small building on old Oahu Sugar Mill's site for some of the kids at a time. So while one age group is indoors working on crafts, three more are outside on the lawn playing games, and several more are on field trips to other YMCA pools.

In the spring of 2007, YMCA officials hope the juggling act will end. A $13.5 million Leeward YMCA expansion will transform one of the YMCA of Honolulu's humblest locations into a showpiece facility.

The project will add:

» 11,000 square feet of fitness space, with group exercise rooms, cardiovascular fitness areas and modern locker rooms.
» A 25-yard, six-lane outdoor pool, with an outdoor deck that incorporates the remaining Oahu Sugar Mill smokestack, a Waipahu icon.
» An outdoor basketball court, community meeting rooms and 160-car parking lot.

When complete, the new Leeward YMCA will be the most comprehensive YMCA in the state, with more exercise space than the Nuuanu YMCA, which currently has the largest fitness area, said Mike Doss, YMCA of Honolulu district vice president.

"This will be a flagship YMCA, the kind of facility we're moving toward" for Oahu, Doss said last week on a site tour.

CDS International designed the facility, which will use the renovated Oahu Sugar generator building to house two floors of exercise space and will add an all-new wing to house locker rooms and offices. Constructors Hawaii Inc. is the general contractor.

The exterior of both the historic building and the new addition will have the look of the sugar mill in its heyday, Doss said.

Today, the Leeward YMCA has no adult members because it offers just a few adult exercise classes. In a year, group exercise classes, lap swimming, cardiovascular and weight-training machines and more will be available.

"This enhances the ability of a family to be together," said Larry Bush, president and CEO of the YMCA of Honolulu. "Mom can exercise and Johnny can swim at the same time that Dad may be playing basketball somewhere else. The Y can be a focal point for the family."

The Leeward expansion is part of an islandwide capital project for the Young Men's Christian Association of Honolulu, aimed at putting more facilities in underserved areas.

For Sierra Matsubara, Micah Donaldson and Kaitlyn Bonn, all 8-year-olds who attend day-care programs at the Leeward YMCA, they are excited by the prospect of their own swimming pool next year.

Nearby business owners praised the potential benefits of the YMCA's expansion yesterday.

"I hope it will help revitalize the neighborhood," said pharmacist Chris Parker at Waipahu Family Pharmacy on Waipahu Street.

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