Kakaʻako Waterfront Park, also known as "Point Panic Park", is a

public park An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a city park, municipal park (North America), public park, public open space, or municipal gardens (United Kingdom, UK), is a park or botanical garden in cities, densely populated suburbia and oth ...

Kakaʻako Kakaʻako is a commercial and retail district of Honolulu, Hawaiʻi between Ala Moana near Waikīkī to the east and downtown Honolulu and Honolulu Harbor to the west. Kakaʻako is situated along the southern shores of the island of Oʻahu, Ha ...

, south of

downtown Honolulu Downtown Honolulu is the current historic, economic, and governmental center of Honolulu, the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii. It is bounded by Nuuanu Stream to the west, Ward Avenue to the east, Vineyard Boulevard to the n ...

, just off

Ala Moana Boulevard Route 92 is a major east–west highway on the island of Oahu which begins at exit 15 off Interstate H-1 (H-1) in Honolulu, Hawaii, Honolulu. The western end of the highway is located at the gate to Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam and th ...

at the end of Cooke Street. It was opened in November 1992 on the site of a former municipal

landfill A landfill is a site for the disposal of waste materials. It is the oldest and most common form of waste disposal, although the systematic burial of waste with daily, intermediate and final covers only began in the 1940s. In the past, waste was ...

and consists of of grass-covered rolling hills adjacent to the ocean. There is no sandy beach at this location, and access to the ocean is by concrete stairs. The park has bathrooms, water fountains, free parking, picnic tables, an

amphitheatre An amphitheatre (American English, U.S. English: amphitheater) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ('), meani ...

, pay telephones, paved jogging paths, and two popular

surfing Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suita ...

spots, "Point Panic" and "Flies". In October 2017, the park was closed in order to address

homeless people Homelessness, also known as houselessness or being unhoused or unsheltered, is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and functional housing. It includes living on the streets, moving between temporary accommodation with family or friends, liv ...

setting up encampments there then reopened in January 2018. Management of Kakaʻako Waterfront Park was done by the Hawaiʻi Community Development Corporation for nearly 20 years. In late 2019, the 40 acres of land that makes up the Kakaʻako Waterfront Park was transferred from the state of Hawaii to the city of Honolulu. The John A. Burns School of Medicine, part of the

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa The University of Hawaii at Mānoa is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Hawaiʻi system and houses the main offic ...

, is located inland and adjacent to the waterfront park. A Memorial to the ''Ehime Maru'' Incident victims is built at the Kakaako Waterfront Park.

Sculptures in the park

* ''Lahui'', a silicon bronze sheet sculpture by

Sean K. L. Browne Sean Kekamakupaʻa Lee Loy Browne (born 1953) was born in 1953 and raised on Hawaiian Homestead Lands in Keaukaha, Hilo, Hawaii. A graduate of the Kamehameha Schools class of 1971, he earned his Bachelor’s degree at the University of Redlands in ...

, 1992 * ''Ano Lani'', a

bronze sculpture Bronze is the most popular metal for Casting (metalworking), cast metal sculptures; a cast bronze sculpture is often called simply "a bronze". It can be used for statues, singly or in groups, reliefs, and small statuettes and figurines, as w ...

Frank Sheriff Frank Sheriff (born 1957) is an abstract sculptor who was born in Yokohama, Japan to an American father and a Japanese-American mother. Because his father was employed by the United States Army, Frank lived in Japan, Nevada, California, New Y ...

, 1993 * A monument to the dead of the Ehime Maru and USS Greeneville collision

Gallery

Point Panic Beach Park.jpg, Bodysurfing area at Kaka'ako Waterfront Park Skyline from Kaka'ako Waterfront Park.jpg, Skyline panorama from Kaka'ako Waterfront Park

References

Parks in Hawaii Protected areas of Oahu Protected areas established in 1992 Tourist attractions in Honolulu Geography of Honolulu 1992 establishments in Hawaii Municipal parks in the United States {{Honolulu-stub

Sculptures in the park

Gallery

See also

References