SUNSET BEACH — Four years after a skateboard park project was launched, work has been halted, upsetting residents who said the community has been waiting 30 years for such a facility.

Construction on the Banzai Rock skateboard facility began in 2006 but stalled earlier this year due to unforeseen site conditions and escalating construction costs, said Clifford Lau, city Facilities Division chief.

Lau said the general contractor for the project, PER Inc., has submitted a request to cover $100,000 in additional costs but the city wants the contractor to stick to the original budget of $587,760.

Neither the contractor nor consultant Dreamland Skateparks returned calls seeking comment.

The design-build contract was given the go-ahead in 2003, with Dreamland Skateparks designing the facility for PER. Under this type of arrangement the contractor has complete control over the design and construction process, Lau said.

"They need to stay within the budget, so they need to come back with a revision to the design that they can complete within the budget," he said.

Lau said the city is in talks with PER Inc.

But residents fear that any change to the plan could result in an inferior skate park, said Bill Barnfield, owner of Raging Isle Surf & Cycle.

Construction was halted when neighboring residents noticed that the contractor wasn't following the plan approved by the community and complained to their City Council member, Donovan Dela Cruz, said Barnfield, a North Shore resident and park advocate.

"They were building it about half as big as it ought to be," he said, adding that skateboard parks have to have the right design or skaters can't perform their feats. "You have to make them really smooth and you have to make transitions between the features correct otherwise they're not fun to skate."

Grading on the project is completed and four walls are up, but weeds have taken hold since work stopped.

Barnfield said the city acquired the land 10 years ago and people started working on the design five years ago but construction didn't start until 2006. Now he wonders if it will ever get done.

He said the community has no sidewalks or schools with large concrete surfaces for children to use for skateboarding.

"It's all mud puddles, dirt and gravel," Barnfield said. "Kids in town can skate all around on sidewalks and in neighborhoods. You can't do that here."

Lau said PER asked for more money to complete the project because it was forced to relocate the facility on the site because of poor soil conditions, requiring truckloads of dirt for fill. Construction prices have risen since the contract was awarded, adding to the need for more money, he said.

"We're basically telling the contractor that you need to go back, look at your design and make adjustments," Lau said.

Dela Cruz has requested more money to complete the project, said Reed Matsuura, the councilman's aide.

The original project called for a comfort station, driveway, parking lot and the skateboard facility but only money for the skateboard facility was included in the city budget back then, Matsuura said.

The parking lot and comfort station also were meant to serve beach users, so Dela Cruz requested planning and design money for that this year but it was not included in the budget, he said.

"We're following this project very closely and we've attempted to do everything we possibly could within our control to make sure the project gets completed," Matsuura said.

Reach Eloise Aguiar at eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com.