A commission set up by the state Legislature last session to find ways to honor the late U.S. Sen. Hiram Fong is expected to submit its recommendations to the state today, but one of the choices doesn't sit well with some Chinatown residents.

According to a draft copy of the report, the commission has identified federal, state and city properties it wants renamed after Fong, including the main post office at the Honolulu International Airport, the Hawai'i State Library and the city's Smith /Beretania Park. All three would be renamed for the senator.

Joy Wong, a member of the group People Against Chinatown Evictions, said the park became a reality only after more than 20 years of struggle by area residents, with no help from Fong or other politicians.

"That park had to be fought for because the city had no intention of really building it," Wong said. "How dare they come into this community and say we will just take this park?"

In the 1970s, People Against Chinatown Evictions was formed to prevent the forced removal of area residents during urban renewal projects.

"We are not opposed to the senator being honored," Wong said. "We suggested a scholarship fund for low-income children in the Chinatown area would be appropriate, but not that park."

In October 2001, the Downtown Neighborhood Board voted unanimously to recommend the city name the park after Christina Kalahiki Brown, a resident of the city's Smith-Beretania Apartments and the leader in the fight to make the park a reality.

The neighborhood board this month heard a presentation by Fong commission chairman Sam Lee, but stood by its earlier recommendation to name the park after Brown, according to board chairwoman Lynne Matusow.

Lee, a retired state representative, would not comment on the recommendations until after the report is made public at the Legislature today.

Fong, who was 97 when he died in 2004, served in the U.S. Senate from 1959 to 1977 and was the first Asian-American senator. He also was elected to Hawai'i's territorial House of Representatives before statehood.

Commission member and City Councilman Charles Djou said the commission looked at every park in Chinatown, and city Parks Director Lester Chang suggested that they consider Smith/Beretania. Djou said naming public places after a politician are a typical way to honor his or her memory.

"I do think it is important for city government to honor Sen. Fong," Djou said. "I think it makes sense to rename a city park after him, and in the Chinatown area, where he got his start in politics. I'm not personally wed to Smith/Beretania Park. If a good case can be made that some other park should be renamed after him, we should examine it."

City spokesman Bill Brennan said the administration has no position on the renaming of Smith/Beretania Park.

"There is no plan on the administration's part to name that park for Sen. Fong, nor any other place at this point," he said.

In 1981, the city agreed to build a park in Chinatown as part of a deal with Charles A. Pankow Development Corp., which developed Honolulu Tower. The developer also got approval to build another condominium, Honolulu Park Place. In exchange, Pankow agreed to pay the city $6 million toward the park.

For decades, little happened despite residents' repeated demands, and the city spent the money on other projects.

Then in September 2001, the city funded the park. The contractor broke ground for the $7.6 million project, which includes a 112-stall underground parking lot to replace the parking lot that had occupied the 1.35-acre parcel.

The park opened unannounced on Oct. 31, 2003, and when the city decided not to hold a blessing, the Downtown Neighborhood Board held its own for area residents.

The commission has made other recommendations, including renaming the East-West Center at the University of Hawai'i after the senator, establishing a scholarship at UH and holding a fundraiser for the National Kidney Foundation in Fong's name.

Djou said the separate recommendations of the commission must be approved by Congress, the state Legislature and the City Council.

"We create new parks all the time," Djou said." We could always name one of those parks after the senator, but then it sort of loses its historical ties. This is the recommendation from the commission, but ultimately it is just a recommendation."

Reach James Gonser at jgonser@honoluluadvertiser.com.