Bathrooms, pavilions and parts of Kapi'olani Park will be closed, beginning today, to give Waikiki Beach a well-deserved scrubbing while also making it more difficult for the homeless to camp out.

The issue of homeless campers in Kapi'olani Park has simmered since last summer when camping in the park peaked at an estimated 150 people per night, prompting complaints from residents and spurring negative national press.

At a beachside press conference yesterday, Mayor Mufi Hannemann focused on the details of the cleanup plan and the support behind it. But his announcement also represented the strongest action by the city toward homeless campers in Kapi'olani Park and Kuhio Beach.

Rick Egged, president of the Waikiki Improvement Association, said the issue of homeless people in Waikiki has been the "No. 1 topic of neighborhood boards for months."

Hannemann's plan, Egged said, seems to be a "measured and very responsible approach. ... What we're addressing here is the issues of sanitation and safety."

The city has taken a similar approach at Ala Moana Park, Thomas Square and on beaches along the Leeward Coast that improved those areas while moving out the homeless and reclaiming the areas for use by the general public.

Hannemann's plan for Waikiki, called Malama 'o Waikiki, means city parks workers will begin shutting down the four pavilions along Kuhio Beach from 6 to 9 a.m. for daily cleaning, starting today with the pavilion nearest the Honolulu police substation.

Over the next several weeks, bathrooms, pavilions and areas of Kapi'olani Park will be closed for repairs and cleaning, which will push homeless people not to sleep overnight in the pavilions and the park.

Hannemann emphasized that the plan will not cost the city any more money because it merely involves redeploying parks workers to Waikiki.

While the effort will require the "total cooperation and support of our parks department," Hannemann said the main purpose is to "make sure Waikiki is safe and clean" from mauka to makai.

In response to reporters' questions about homeless people in Waikiki and Kapi'olani Park that have given Honolulu negative publicity around the country, Hannemann said, "Certainly the level of anxiety has risen."

ADDRESSING CONCERNS

The city has listened to the concerns of groups including hotel operators, neighborhood boards and others, Hannemann said, because "these two square miles are the economic engine of our community."

Guy Klabunder, a frequent Waikiki visitor since 1982, applauded the mayor's ideas yesterday.

"Anything that makes Waikiki cleaner and nicer will keep me coming back," said Klabunder, who lives in Anchorage, Alaska.

Klabunder first started visiting Waikiki when his children were little, and now he returns each year with his grandchildren.

But for a few years he started vacationing on Maui because "it was getting scary in Waikiki with guys digging in the trash and pushing grocery carts full of junk."

City officials have consulted with groups that provide services for the homeless and have been assured that shelter space is available, Hannemann said.

Kate Bepko, spokeswoman for the Institute for Human Services — the state's largest emergency homeless shelter — said after Hannemann's announcement that IHS officials had spoken to the mayor's office and that there were about 40 beds available for women and about 60 for men as of yesterday.

But Bepko acknowledged that many homeless people don't want to stay in shelters and abide by their rules, which include no drinking or drug use.

"There are many homeless people all over the nation who don't want to go to shelters," Bepko said. "Everyone has different reasoning. Some people truly just want more space."

SOME UNHAPPY

Hannemann acknowledged that some people who consider "Waikiki theirs" will not be happy with the plan to close pavilions and Kapi'olani Park.

"We know this plan is not going to make some folks happy," he said. "But we need our beach parks to be accessible to everyone. ... Everybody's going to be inconvenienced a bit."

Paul Jones, one of the beach boys at the Star Beach Boys stand on Kuhio Beach, also welcomed the cleanup.

"I think it's good what the mayor's doing," Jones said. "They need to do something."

But pushing homeless people out of Waikiki pavilions and Kapi'olani Park will simply create a homeless problem somewhere else, Jones said.

"It's not going to go away," he said.

B.J. Kam agreed.

At age 52, she sleeps on an exposed mat underneath a tarpaulin in Kapi'olani Park and said she wants to continue living outside.

"Give me a ticket," she said, "or take me to jail."