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Officials renamed the city’s aquatic center in Waipio in honor of the late U.S. Rep. K. Mark Takai during a ceremony Saturday. Read more

Officials renamed the city’s aquatic center in Waipio in honor of the late U.S. Rep. K. Mark Takai during a ceremony Saturday.

“Mark would have been 50 years old today,” Mayor Kirk Caldwell said at the ceremony. “It’s a good day, a special day to rename this complex.”

The swimming facility at Patsy T. Mink Central Oahu Regional Park is now called the K. Mark Takai Veterans Memorial Aquatics Center.

Takai was a swimmer at both the University of Hawaii and Pearl City High School. He was a high school swimming state champion and, in college, Western Athletic Conference champion.

At UH-Manoa he was also president of the Associated Students of the University of Hawaii and editor-in-chief of the campus newspaper, Ka Leo. Takai was a state representative for 20 years and a lieutenant colonel in the Hawaii Army National Guard.

He died last year at age 49 after a bout with pancreatic cancer.

“He loved serving,” Caldwell said at the ceremony, adding that he recalled going to seminars Takai gave on getting elected to public office. “(He) was passionate about connecting with people. That’s what made him so, so successful.”

“Sometimes life is unfair, and Mark left us way too early,” Caldwell said. “But I know one thing: Naming this complex after Mark is the absolute right, pono thing to do.”

The Takai family, City Council members, representatives from the state Legislature and others attended the dedication.