Scrapped to saved: Burnt playground to be replaced in Wahiawa
WAHIAWA, Hawaii (KHON2) — Tragic news is turning into a story of hope in Wahiawa.
The District Park's newly refurbished playground was destroyed by arson just a couple of weeks after it was refurbished, but the community is now stepping up with an unexpected donation.
Blaze devastates newly revamped playground at Wahiawa park
'It feels amazing. You know? I mean, unfortunate that things happen in Wahiawa with the fire, but you know what, we're here to make it better. So you know when people join, join together, we can make that difference,' said Goals Hawaii Vice President Al Legaspi.
Arsonists burned the structure beyond repair in early May after the Wahiawa District Park playground surface was refurbished, but help came from an unexpected place nearby. Another playground miles away at Hokulani Community Center was about to be scrapped.
'Come take a look at it to see if it meets our your standards and check if we can donate to you,' because what they were going to do was remove it and then scrap it. But it's still in great condition and so it serves as a replacement for the playground that was completely destroyed up at Wahiawa,' said Department of Parks and Recreation spokesman Nate Serota.
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The idea came from the same contractor who worked on the Wahiawa playground refurbishment — InspiredPlay Hawaii. They connected with Hunt Companies, who agreed to donate the soon-to-be demolished structure at Hokulani. Volunteers are currently working on taking it apart to reassemble in Wahiawa.
'This was going to be bulldozed this week. So it was, fortunate that we were able to get Hunt to be on board with donating it to the county, and that the city was then able to receive that donation. And that all of that was going to happen before this got thrown away,' said Dana Sagum, InspiredPlay Hawaii partner.
Police said the arson investigation is still ongoing, no suspects have been identified but they are still asking for tips and submitted video from the public. The silver lining is the city is saving over $50,000 through the donated replacement structure.Volunteers have stepped up to prepare the donated playground for its new home even though the floor surface of the burnt structure still needs to be replaced.
'There's some, metal rails. I was just helping, and they're doing the drilling, and I was doing the lifting part get some gym time while I'm out here,' said Sean, a volunteer.
'A playground for the kids is everything. You know, you really get to explore, they get to adventure, socialize, everything,' Legaspi said.
Check out more news from around Hawaii
A timeline for the rebuild is still being finalized and but updates will be provided as the project progresses.
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