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Activists opposed to the construction of a new playground and sports field at Waimanalo Bay Beach Park are now tying their struggle to the protests against the proposed Thirty Meter Telescope on Mauna Kea. Read more

Activists opposed to the construction of a new playground and sports field at Waimanalo Bay Beach Park are now tying their struggle to the protests against the proposed Thirty Meter Telescope on Mauna Kea.

About 60 or so opponents of the improvements to the park, also known as Sherwood Forest, gathered along Kalanianaole Highway at the entrance of the park Sunday morning, where they waved signs and placed wooden crosses in the ground to represent the burial sites they said would be disturbed by the construction.

Much like the protesters on Mauna Kea, the Waimanalo activists say the land being used for the park is sacred and should not be desecrated.

“This is very similar with what’s happening on Mauna Kea right now. This is the evidence of the marginalization of our people, of our voices,” said Kuike Kamakea-Ohelo, president of Save Our Sherwoods, a nonprofit that looks to preserve Waimanalo’s cultural, historical and natural resources.

>> Photo Gallery: Protesters rally to stop Waimanalo park construction

The city began clearing ironwood trees and brush to build the playground and sports field in April. Soon afterward protesters began lining the road nearby, demanding an end to the construction.

An excavator and a bulldozer being used to clear the forest were set on fire May 22. The Honolulu Fire Department estimated damage at about $250,000.

Mayor Kirk Caldwell condemned the vandalism and said May 29 that the city will continue work on Phase 1 of the Waimanalo Bay Beach Park improvement project because it would cost up to $300,000 to pull back from an existing contract but that he was amenable to halting future phases if the community so chooses.

The $1.43 million first phase of the Waimanalo Bay Beach Park Master Plan consists of grading and installing irrigation for a multipurpose sports field, a parking lot and play apparatus.

“For me, when we do a project and it’s been fully vetted, fully funded and we actually have started and money has been expended and there’s a cost to stopping, I feel that we need to proceed at least with that phase,” Caldwell told reporters May 29. “Otherwise, every project we do all around this island, we say, ‘Maybe we’ve gotta stop now because a certain group says stop.’”

City officials could not be reached Sunday for comment.

Some of the messages on the protesters’ signs were environmental in nature; others argued that there was a lack of maintenance for existing parks in the area; and several advocated against the development of the forest.

Those arguments have so far been the focus for those against the proposed improvements detailed in the 2012 Waimanalo Bay Beach Park Master Plan, which includes a sports field, bathrooms and a picnic area.

But upside-down state flags and signs reading “Ku Kiai Mauna” (protect our mountain) at the vigil were clear indicators that opponents see similarities between the issue at Waimanalo and the one involving construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope on Hawaii island’s Mauna Kea.

Protesters on Mauna Kea have halted the start of construction of the $1.4 billion telescope for four weeks, saying the mountain is sacred and that building a telescope would desecrate it. The telescope developers went through a 10-year process to gain approval for the project, including a favorable ruling from the Hawaii Supreme Court.

Those against the Waimanalo development are citing the burial sites in the park, where nearly 50 years of archaeological investigations have uncovered the remains of dozens of people — 92, by the activists’ count — symbolized by white crosses planted along the highway Sunday.

“The white crosses represent the 92-plus kupuna iwi, the 92-plus kupuna that have been found here back in the 1970s and reinterred back in the early 1990s,” Kamakea-Ohelo said. “They still exist here, and by the city and county moving forward with their master plan to … bulldoze over these spaces where our kupuna lay rest — yeah, we’re not OK with that.”

One point of contention is the park’s status on the National Register of Historic Places. Opponents of the proposed developments say the park falls under the register’s “Bellows Field Archaeological Area” listing, which is recognized on federal and state levels, offering protections from federally and state-funded projects that might affect the area.

The area is listed as a Hawaiian funerary with remains that are up to 1,500 years old.

“Especially what we’re seeing on Mauna Kea — it’s a good example of things being handled properly. … It’s a good model right now for every group that’s fighting for their sacred place,” said Mahealani Martin, who lives in Honolulu but drove to Waimanalo for the vigil. “What’s happening on Mauna Kea is a good example for all of us to follow, and we’re fighting to save our sacred places.”

Joanna Maile Pokipala, from Kalihi, was alongside others at the side of Kalanianaole Highway and held a Hawaii state flag while her kids were holding signs. She said ancestral remains need to be protected.

“That’s the thing we’re trying to protect along with everything else that’s happening across the state,” she said. “We need to start really protecting our aina.”