Old Stadium Park

This is a great park because it’s big and grassy. There is always plenty of room to grab a bench or a table and relax. There are also plenty of places to take a nap.
Police routinely drive past the park on King St. They also visit the back by the restrooms, which are open ²⁴⁄₇.
Nobody is allowed to stay the night in the park and they enforce it. Everyone leaves by 10 p.m., even the homeless people.
I have never felt like I was in danger at this park and I have napped here twice and visited about two or three dozen times during the last year. It appears that the homeless people have erected a clock, which is helpful.
Homeless people hang out on the shaded concrete area by the restrooms. They have never bothered me and I have never seen any weapons or illicit drugs.
There is a big playground for kids and there are usually a few children enjoying it. There are some beautiful, big shade trees too.
I like how the park is big enough to be situated off the main street because pollution blows everywhere from the street. Consequently it’s cleaner than some parks.
I’LL BE BOCK.

Nice place to take kids for skateboarding and rollerskating. Special note daytime only for nighttime has vagrants and undesirables

Really sad and depressing how the homeless people have practically taken over this park (among other places in Hawaii, for that matter). I remember years ago how nice and decent Old Stadium Park was. And there are still the smaller sculptures and the playground set. Parking is free and limited.
Not really that safe a place to walk around or enjoy a picnic these days, due to the aforementioned homeless people. Try someplace else if possible.

I very disappointed in the this park! I have alot of memories of this park… it’s where my parents took me & my siblings to ride our bikes & skates. I remember families always having picnics or potlucks in the pavilion area, but now… Gosh! Its just full of homeless drug addicts. Today I took my children to this park & was so sadden of what the park has become. There was even a birthday party there but the family had to setup their tables & food almost against the bathroom wall while the homeless in their makeshift tents or on their mats & their shopping carts took up most the pavilion area… I thought it was so rude & inconsiderate of them not to move to another area of park at least!

Pros:
Decent sized park
Playground for the keiki
Large trees providing a good amount of shade
Cons:
A virtual homeless tent city, especially the «picnic» pavilion
Strewn with food wrappers, chicken bones, and other trash all over the place
Free parking nearby is usually full and nearby parking stalls are overpriced
It’s OK for walking the dog around for a few minutes, but not terribly pleasant to spend much time here. Park needs a serious clean-​up to make it a pleasant green space in the middle of the concrete jungle. Hope that happens sooner rather than later!

I have very fond memories of this park!
Way back in the day, I learned how to rollerblade here. The smooth paths were perfect for kids trying to maintain their balance.
At that time, the jungle gym equipment was brand new and there were lots of other families enjoying the park… playing in the sand, riding bikes, reading a book on a bench in the shade…
These days, there are so many homeless people crowding the sidewalks facing King St and in the park that one could easily mistake it for a designated homeless campground. Tents everywhere! Mini shelters created from tarps over shopping carts! Bikes, chairs, mats, small furniture laid out in the park like it’s their private property! YIKES.
The jungle gym equipment still looks like it’s in decent shape, but due to the homeless population here I would recommend going elsewhere.

The Beginning:
The year was 1926. The Governor of the Territory of Hawaii was Wallace Farrington. Honolulu was a city of about 200,000 people. 1926 was the year the 16,000 seat Honolulu Stadium opened it doors to Hawaii sports fans.
It was a private developer and his hui that built Honolulu Stadium on 2 acres of land located on the corner of Isenberg and King for about $ 150,000. You could say that this development was a success because five years later, the stadium and land were purchased by the University of Hawaii for its collegiate football and baseball programs. Purchase price not known.
The Then:
Honolulu Statidum was later expanded to 24,000 seats but could hold up to 30,000 people depending on the event.
The stadium had 87 parking stalls.
Babe Ruth and Joe Dimaggio played in Honolulu Stadium.
Irving Berlin and Elvis Presley had concerts in this stadium.
Legendary Hawaii footballer’s Tommy Kaulukukui, Herman Wedemeyer, Charlie Wedemeyer, Bob Apisa and Mosi Tatupu played in this stadium.
Honolulu Stadium was the home of the Hawaii Islander of the Pacific Coast League from 1961 to 1975.
The Hawaiians of the World Football League and Levi Stanley played one season in this stadium.
The ILH High School football Thanksgiving Day doubleheaders were played in this stadium. Back then high school football was huge and the Thanksgiving Day doubleheader was usually sold out.
The stadium was built of wood and I remember prowling under the bleachers looking for dimes, nickels, quarters and half dollars that would fall through the cracks between the planked floor. If I found seventy five cents; that was considered a great day.
I remember when you would hope and pray that the termite eaten stadium wouldn’t fall down when all us kids would stump on the wooden planks making that rumbling sound during high school games.
I remember when some of us boys would roam outside the stadium at night, hoping to catch a ball hit out of the stadium by Hawaii Islander legend Carlos Bernier.
I remember how from even a mile away you could hear the roar of the crowds and the cheers in Makiki, Manoa and even Waikiki after a touchdown or game winning home run.
I remember when the sound of the high school bands would fill the air outside of the stadium at 5:00 in the afternoon during the football season.
I remember when baseball and football were family affairs where after the game you would buy shave ice or saimin or barbeque sticks because that’s what you did after a game.
In 1975 they built Aloha Staidum in Halawa and in 1976 they tore the Termite Palace down.
The Now:
They built the Old Stadium Park on the two acre lot where the old decrepit stadium once stood. Things will never be the same. They made the park a tranquil walking park where you cannot play football or baseball or any they other field game. They built a pavilion and added some sculptures to beautify the park.
You will never hearing cheering or feel the emotions and excitement of the kind from way back then. Honolulu Stadium is gone and somehow the whole of Moilili and even Honolulu are not the same.
Today when I drive by on King, it saddens me to see how this green open oasis in the Moilili area is now mostly occupied and used by people living in tents. To me, time and progress does not necessarily make things better.
P. S. Reading Little D.‘s 8÷14÷11, ¹⁴⁄₃₆₅ review of the Old Stadium Park got me remembering about what was there before the park. Keep writing Unilocalers. Reviews not only have helpful, useful and cool information about the present but can bring back memories about the past. Thanks for your review Little D.

I used to pass through this park a lot before. That time, I saw a lot of activities like other healthy parks, walking, taichi, qigong, dancing, singing, tree huggers, tree patters, pick nick, meditating …
I don’t know how much of these activities are still on or off, but I do see a lot of homeless people with tents and cardboards on north side of the park and also on sidewalks. Compared to one point, less homeless people.
Unilocal 365 — ¹⁴⁄₃₆₅

Rating: ⁴⁄₅
Date (s) visited: 8÷07÷2011, a couple times before.
Atmosphere: ³⁄₅
Available Activities: ²⁄₅
Restrooms: ?/​5
Parking: ³⁄₅
Atmosphere:
Perfect for townees.
Available Activities:
There’s a playground for children, a pavilion for the homeless (just kidding), a pretty large field to do what ever.
Restrooms:
Not sure.
Parking:
Ample parking for park patrons, but there is also parking at the sides of the park, as it is situated on the corner of King St. & Isenberg St.

The homeless scene is gnarly here! Especially at night where they set up tents around the perimeter on the sidewalks. It’s safer than the park across the street but there are so many better ones around.

Then: When I was a child and the world was so large that table tops were mysteries and the grass and sand were common friends, I would often ask my mother to take my sister and I to Old Stadium Park. We just called it Stadium Park because it never seemed that old.
Now: I’m on the phone with the police dispatcher on the corner of Makahiki and Algaroba.
«I’d like to make a noise complaint at Stadium Park.»
«What is the complaint.»
«I think its two homeless people fighting.»
The haole woman and dark male were pacing up and down the small alley exit. It must have the been the crystal methamphetamine in her system that made her screams shrill and desperate. She furiously shrieked at the man causing her stress.
I turned on Makahiki, passing a Japanese woman also producing her cell phone as she stepped out of her sports utility vehicle. I swerved onto the sidewalk of King Street, passing a group of local and mainland yuppies. On the sidewalk, I passed Polynesian and Micronesian families and the grass never looked so green. Did they all hear the mayhem right around the corner?

When I was little, my parents used to take my younger brother & I to this park sometimes.
Used to ride bike, scooter, fly kite, remote control cars, or play on the playground area.
Fun times. Kid times so much easier lol.
Anyway,
I haven’t been by there for awhile, but hopefully all the equipment and such is still there.
Only one bad experience there though, totally on my part lol.
When I was in preschool, we had a field trip. Ate lunch there, and they had one of those swirly things, you know, a bunch of ppl sit on it and you get spun around. Well I didn’t know one of the helper dudes that came on the field trip was gonna spin it, like fast kine, and I did not hold on, he spun and I went head first in a tree. Can you say embarrassment? hah.

I didn’t grow up here, so I can only imagine when my great uncles and aunts speak of the Old Stadium. Many locals have great memories of it. Only a lone plaque remains to tell you the history. Now a complete shadow of its former self, the park that sits where the Old Stadium used to is a haven for homeless and transients. I’ve walked though here many occasions and they pay me no mind. Unfortunately, if you live in town, most parks are plagued by this phenomenon. It’s actually relatively clean and well kept besides that fact. It’s basically not the prettiest park out there, just a place to rest your bones. There’s a small jungle gym that kids play on which is closer to the corner of Isenburg and King Streets. They also have a farmer’s market every so often. It’s right up/​across the street from several businesses including Waiola Shave Ice (
), Da Kitchen Café (
), and Sweet Home Café (
) to name a few.

My grandpa used to take me there all the time when I was little. Everytime we would go, he would tell me the same story. When he was in high school, he got a ring for winning state in baseball. One day, during a game, he forgot to take his ring off and when he jumped for a flyball, the ring came off his finger and he couldn’t find it. To this day, he always says that his ring is somewhere in that park. How weird would it be if I went there and found it.