After facing fierce opposition from Kaimukī residents, the City and County of Honolulu and nonprofit Hawaiʻi Kyudo Foundation are looking for a new location to build a Japanese archery range.
To the archers, the Mauʻumae Nature Park seemed like the perfect match. It sits on half an acre of undeveloped land, lacks abutting neighbors and is overgrown with invasive plants.
The plan was to build a 4,200-square-foot multi-use facility, including a dojo for the traditional martial arts of Japanese archery, a meeting room, parking, bathrooms and native landscaping.
Hawai‘i Kyudo Foundation Board of Directors member Bob Dewitz, who is married to Hiroko (in the picture), said he was surprised by the community resistance.
“There had not been resistance for a number of months when we made our initial presentations for the neighborhood board,” he said. “The last thing we wanted to do was be a divisive force to the neighborhood. Although we thought it would have been a good site, it's not welcomed there, so I’m sure we can work with the City to find an alternative location.”
The project was a public-private partnership between the nonprofit and the City. The agreement was that the foundation will construct and fund the $850,000 project then gift the facility to the city after its completion.
The Honolulu Department of Parks and Recreation has said the annual upkeep for the facility would cost $20,000.
But residents have raised concerns about lack of outreach, safety issues, increased traffic and attracting people experiencing homelessness.
Grace O'Neil has lived in Kaimukī for 10 years and opposed the project, adding that she was worried about stray arrows hitting someone or their pet and wants to keep the park as a nature park instead of an archery range.
“We don’t want any development in the park. I want to make that clear,” she said. “We don't think the park should be developed, whether it be like a tennis court, a pickleball court, even though that would serve more people than the archery range was going to.”
O'Neil said she would like to see the trails in the forest area be maintained for people to walk through and manage the invasive plants that have taken over the area.
Currently, the forest area of the park appears to have a walkway that is obstructed by overgrown grass. The lower end of the park has a few benches and some pot holes. There are no playgrounds or ball courts.
O'Neil said residents will be attending the Kaimukī Neighborhood Board on Wednesday to pitch ideas to upkeep the park.
In October, the Kaimukī Neighborhood Board unanimously voted on a resolution supporting the construction of the kyudojo at the park.
Board member Becky Gardner, who backed the project, said she was surprised by the community opposition.
“Maybe they just felt like this was being forced down their throat,” she said.
Gardner has been on the board since 2017 and has never seen discontent from neighbors about a project.
She said that the Hawai‘i Kyudo Foundation took the right steps to make several presentations last year to update the board on their plans.
“That to me is the due diligence that they needed to do to engage our board,” she said. “Based on my recollection, he (Bob Dewitz) was reaching out to neighbors in the community, but I guess he just didn't talk to enough.”
The 125-year-old Hawai‘i Kyudo Kai club has been looking for a permanent home for decades. Archers currently practice in the basement of the Soto Zen Buddhist Temple in Nu‘uanu.
Archers have been trying to keep the practice alive after it went dormant during World War II, when the US government confiscated the bows and arrows of many Japanese martial arts masters and forced them into internment camps.
While the City and foundation are searching for a new location, Dewitz said the recent controversy surrounding the dojo had people inquiring about joining the club. The club now has 40 people on their waiting list.
“We’ve got a demand now. We just need a facility to meet that demand,” he said.
