Four years ago, Pele Street residents gathered on Lualani Teale's front yard to discuss getting neighborhood kids onto a playground and off busy downtown streets.

The community meeting set into motion a long campaign to turn a 5,583-square-foot storage lot at the end of Pele Street into a mini-park.

"The kids had an obvious need for a place to play," Teale said. During typical afternoons, she said, up to 50 kids were playing in the area and sometimes dodging cars at Lusitana and Punchbowl streets. Over the years, several, including a 3-year-old boy, had been struck by vehicles.

These days, the kids play in the mini-park, which will celebrate its grand opening tomorrow.

Constructed on a state-owned lot deeded to the city, the mini-park cost about $158,000. In exchange for the construction work, residents agreed to provide the park's cleanup and trash pickup services.

Teale says the park is a community triumph — a model for how people can work together to solve neighborhood problems creatively.

"It's the kind of paradigm we need to see more of in making change in communities," she said. "It's the little tiny seed of what needs to happen statewide."

In 2002, with backing from the Downtown Neighborhood Board, Pele Street mini-park supporters became part of a city "visioning team" project. It then took nearly two years to secure approvals needed for the city to acquire the patch of land from the state. An initial $86,000 contract to install a potable water system at the site was awarded in May 2004, but the project was nearly axed.

Despite such obstacles, the community never gave up. And in July 2005, a $71,800 contract was awarded to construct the playground and a sidewalk. Work on both contracts started in October 2005 and wrapped up in February.

Karl Rhoads, a Downtown Neighborhood Board member who helped move the project along, said the campaign for the park was especially challenging because the city had doubts about taking over state land and maintaining such a small park.

"A lot of people worked a lot of hours to make this happen," said Rhoads, who is running for a state House seat.

About 600 people live within a two-block radius of the park. Teale said the creation of the playground serves as solid evidence of how it's possible to re-develop a community without making major changes.

Reach Mary Vorsino at mvorsino@honoluluadvertiser.com.