(BIVN) – Areas of the Pāhoa District Park will reopen on Monday, after a long closure during the eruption of Kīlauea Volcano.

The Hawai‘i County Department of Parks and Recreation announces that the covered play courts and upper baseball fields at Pāhoa District Park will reopen on November 19, after a public blessing ceremony scheduled for 3 p.m. at the covered play courts. Once the blessing ceremony is complete, the covered play courts and upper baseball fields will be open for recreational use.

According to the County:

Repairs are being made to the entire facility, which sustained damage while being used as a temporary evacuation center during the 2018 eruption of the East Rift Zone. Repairs are expected to take approximately 13 months, and parts of the park will be closed intermittently while these repairs are being made. The soccer fields will remain closed until they are repaired and safe for use.

A deadline to submit bids to the County for proposals to complete restoration work at the Pāhoa Community Aquatic Center were due on November 5, 2018, a previous media release stated. Officials say the project addresses two primary scopes – the complete removal of all “Pele’s hair” (fine threads of volcanic glass which are formed when a spray of lava droplets cools rapidly in the air) from the facility, and the repair of cracks in the main pool’s basin and deck area. The completion date of the project is to be determined.

For more information, or to reserve the covered play courts or the upper baseball fields for recreational use, please contact Parks and Recreation, Recreation Division, at 965-6348.