Fix It! The Courts Are Cracked
How long has it been since these tennis court surfaces were smooth?
Want to play a game of chance? Try these tennis courts.
The many cracks in the courts at Makiki and Mānoa district parks — some several fingers wide and as deep as one’s first knuckle — threaten to disrupt and alter the course of a rally.
“If the ball hits a crack it bounces erratically so you have a hard time hitting it because it doesn’t have true bounce — it totally messes up your shots,” said Terry Hunter, who has played at the Mānoa park since 1982 and regularly meets friends for matches at the Makiki park, too.
The cracks also pose a trip hazard, he said.
“I’ve had to catch my balance many times and cursed it, ‘Ahh, these cracks,’” Hunter said. “I’ve never seen anyone fall yet, but I’m sure someone must have.”
There are four courts at Makiki District Park and five at Mānoa Valley District Park, with cracks spread across the surface of each.
“If the ball hits a crack, it’s a total game changer,” said Robert Liu, who was playing at the Mānoa park on a recent Friday.
He and a friend had switched from court 4 to court 5 to avoid some deep fractures on the worn surface, “but it wasn’t really an upgrade,” Liu said.
Liu, who grew up playing on the Mānoa courts, said he thought they were last resurfaced sometime during the pandemic, but have deteriorated again since then.
His memory was correct. The Mānoa courts were resurfaced in May 2020, said Honolulu Parks and Recreation spokesperson Nate Serota.
As for the Makiki park courts, Serota said the most recent department records show they were last renovated in 1998. Officials believe work has been done to them in the 27 years since, however “we are unsure,” he said in an email.
The courts at both parks now require more intensive reconstruction work than simply resurfacing, Serota said. A plan to convert under-used volleyball, basketball and tennis courts to pickleball courts has delayed resurfacing and repair projects, he said.
“The combination of maintaining the existing courts, while accommodating the growing community of pickleball players, does take time,” he said.
Mānoa Valley District Park is first in the current queue of parks needing reconstruction, while Makiki District Park falls fourth, behind Kāne‘ohe District Park and Wilson Community Park.
Who Is Responsible
Honolulu parks director Laura H. Thielen, 808-768-3003.
Keep track of repairs or renovations at different public parks here. Residents can also submit reports online at honoluluhi.citysourced.com; by email at complaints@honolulu.gov; at the city’s complaints line at 808-768-4381; or through the free Honolulu 311 app.
We Polled You About Missing Park Lights. You Answered.
And speaking of playing courts, an earlier Fix It! story about some missing court lights at Kauluwela Community Park in Honolulu has taken some interesting twists and turns.
Civil Beat had followed a tip from resident Anthony Chang who reported that nine court lights at the park removed in March 2021 still hadn’t been replaced. Chang has lived near the park since 2018.
On this one, Serota said there were no current plans or money to replace them. But since residents hadn’t been able to weigh in on the decision to take the lights out we published a brief online survey.
Forty-two readers responded to the question, “Do you want new court lights installed at Kauluwela Community Park?”
A majority, 36 of the respondents, answered YES, while eight readers said NO.
We shared the results with Serota, who has yet to respond.
Got A Tip For Fix It!?
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