The City and County of Honolulu introduced initial plans to build a new park back in 2016, but almost three years later and construction hasn’t even begun.

The Rotary Club of Honolulu has been behind the project of the new park dubbed “Centennial Park.” The proposed area for the new park is the empty area at the intersection of Seaside Avenue and Aloha Drive.

Residents say they’ve been waiting for the park to be built, but haven’t seen much work done.

“You see across the street it’s just a fence, dead grass it’s not pleasing to the eye,” said Waikiki resident Jermaine Williams.

The Rotary Club of Honolulu says design decisions played a part in delays.

The original target cost for the project back in 2016 had been about $550,000. Due to various input on the project, projected costs went off budget, costing approximately $3 million. They had to go back to the drawing board and go back to original plans to fit within the budget.

However what caused the biggest delay was the pushback from the community on a HECO electrical sub-station planned to be placed in the park.

“There were parts that could keep moving forward but the decision was made to just kind of hold everything until that got resolved,” said Robert Hale, Chair of Centennial Park Committee.

Community concern over the electrical sub-station has caught the attention of city council members.

“Chair [Heidi] Tsuneyoshi of the parks committee was responding to community concerns and agreed to give it a public meeting and thats what’s happening tomorrow,” said council member Mike Formby. “The purpose of the committee meeting tomorrow is for the council to learn more about the concerns.”

The resolution being heard at the City Council would solidify a private-public partnership between the rotary club and the City and County of Honolulu, an important step forward in the approval and permitting process. It is on the City Council’s agenda for Tuesday.

Hale says they will continue to move forward with the project for the Waikiki community.

“You have a lot of people in relatively small units often without a lot of outside spaces and stuff, and this provides a real respite visually for everyone who comes by,” said Hale.

Hale says they currently do not have an estimate on projected costs, but they’ve raised $1.5 million so far. They have already begun an archological study of the site. He says they hope to begin construction in the area some time in 2019 summer or fall.