FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                 March 23, 2007

ALA MOANA PARK WILL CLOSE APRIL 25-26 FOR MAINTENANCE    

The City will close Ala Moana Regional Park Wednesday, April 25, until 3 p.m. Thursday, April 26, to allow City workers to perform heavy maintenance there, City Parks and Recreation Director Lester Chang has announced.

The closure is part of a program of beefed up maintenance that began with last April’s three-day closure for the popular park.

“Everyone across the island agrees that Ala Moana Park has never looked better thanks to the  major cleanup we did last year. Our goal is to keep the shine on the crown jewel of our public park system,” said Mayor Mufi Hannemann.

Chang reminded the public that Ala Moana park is closed to the public nightly from 10 p.m. until 4 a.m. In effect, next month’s closure will run from 10 p.m. April 24 until 3 p.m. April 26.

“We’re putting word out well in advance to give our park users enough time to make alternate plans,” said Chang.

 It was a year ago this month that the City began closing Ala Moana at night, to prepare for a three-day shutdown to perform some sorely needed maintenance. The nightly closures triggered an exodus of scores of illegal campers at Ala Moana, where camping is prohibited.

Public support was overwhelming for the nightly closures of Ala Moana and the City’s cleanup efforts, Chang said.

            “In the town area, we anticipate turning our attention to Thomas Square Park after we’ve completed the maintenance shutdown at Ala Moana,” Chang said.

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Contact:

            Bill Brennan, 527-6928

            Mark Matsunaga, 527-5767