A $1,000,000 Opportunity
April 13, 2026
Following our February meeting at VMAC, Councilmember Matt Weyer’s office reached out with remarkable news: he had introduced a $1 million amendment to the City and County of Honolulu’s Fiscal Year 2027 Capital Improvement Program budget, designated for improvements at the K. Mark Takai Veterans’ Memorial Aquatic Center.
The amendment was accepted by the Budget Committee chair and incorporated into Committee Draft 1 of Bill 23 (2026). It was an extraordinary opportunity for VMAC—but the funding was far from guaranteed. The bill still had several stages to clear, and each one would require visible community support.
For the VMAC Renewal Foundation, the timing created an unexpected challenge.
Our official public unveiling was not planned until August 2026. Until then, we had been working largely behind the scenes—building the organization, forming relationships, and preparing to introduce the Foundation to the wider community. We had not expected to begin a public advocacy campaign so soon.
But an opportunity of this significance could not be allowed to pass quietly.
With only two days’ notice before the City Council’s second reading, the Foundation quickly activated its network. Coaches, athletes, families, aquatic organizations, and community supporters responded, generating approximately 80 pieces of testimony in support of the bill.
Senior Advisor Nadine Takai-Day represented the Foundation through oral testimony by Zoom. As the sister of the late Congressman K. Mark Takai, whose name the aquatic center proudly bears, her support carried a deeply personal connection to VMAC and its potential to serve the community.
Her perspective was also grounded in extensive aquatic leadership. As chair of the World Aquatics Masters Committee and an advocate for adult learn-to-swim programs, she framed the proposed investment as much more than a repair project.
Hawaiʻi is surrounded by water, yet too many children and adults lack basic swimming skills. Nadine emphasized that modernizing VMAC could expand access to swim lessons, drowning-prevention programs, water aerobics, recreational swimming, competitive training, low-impact fitness, and multigenerational activities.
The project, she explained, was not simply about replacing aging blocks, repairing a bulkhead, or updating bathrooms. It was about transforming a limited and increasingly compromised facility into a safer, more functional, multipurpose aquatic center—one capable of saving lives, developing athletes, promoting health, and serving the everyday ʻohana.
Her message was simple and powerful: “Swimming literally saves lives.”
The response was especially meaningful because the Foundation had not yet formally introduced itself to the public. Even while operating largely out of view, we were able to bring together a broad network of people who understood VMAC’s importance and were willing to speak up for its future.
Councilmember Weyer’s amendment created the opportunity. The community’s immediate response showed that the support was already there.
It was our first major test as an advocacy organization—and the beginning of a much larger campaign to carry the $1 million commitment across the finish line.
