Kailua welcomes a new parklet as a way to connect the community
May 30, 2023
Residents and visitors to Kailua town, on the Windward side of Oahu, now have a new place to hang out — at its first parklet, located outside of Café Kopi on Kihapai Street.
The parklet, a community seating area, is in what was once a single-use parking space. It aims to offer new uses for public space and to encourage others to rethink how space is allocated in serving broader transportation and community needs.
“Creative initiatives like parklets help us reimagine what our streets and public spaces can look like,” said Kathleen Rooney, Ulupono Initiative’s director of transportation policy and programs. “Oahu has more than 8,000 acres of public space in streets, and it isn’t clear that the best and highest use of these spaces has to be vehicles. Parklets are small-scale interventions that explore what other uses we can have for these spaces, and we’re helping to create a community when we prioritize people over cars.”
With support provided through the Ulupono Fund at the Hawaii Community Foundation and the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) Foundation, the organization’s charitable affiliate, the Kailua parklet was designed by Pocket Green, a group of University of Hawai‘i architecture students, in collaboration with Re-use Hawaiʻi and Better Block Hawaii. It has many unique features, such as a modern curved design and uses plants native to Hawaii around the seating area, thanks to the Hawaii Climate Commission's VISTA Cohort. The parklet is also made from 100% recycled and salvaged materials as a part of Re-use Hawaii’s Deconstruction Program.
“Parking stalls often only house a few cars a day. Parklets show us that the same space used for a single car can be repurposed for so much more — for people to enjoy a coffee, read a book, sit and relax under a tree, or even meet someone new,” said Better Block Hawaii’s Abbey Seitz. “This new parklet in Kailua is an embodiment of the community that designed and built it — often like our streets and public spaces are.”
“Every comment we’ve received about the parklet has been positive. We’re hosting concerts three times a month and have people coming all the way from town to be here; it’s great,” said Ernest Shih, one of the owners of Café Kopi. “When we look out of the cafe, we see this beautiful parklet engaging the community instead of a car. This has shown us that there are opportunities to be more creative with development and we are so appreciative of this group collaboration; it wouldn't have been possible without everybody's efforts.”
The Kailua parklet is one of several parklet projects Ulupono Initiative supports as part of its efforts to promote safer and more livable communities and streets. Other parklets are located in the Kaimuki and Kakaako communities on Oahu.