HONU'APO, Hawai'i — On coastal land saved from being turned into a subdivision, Hawai'i County has dedicated a new park on 225 acres in Ka'u.

The park, which has not been named yet, was created with money raised by a combined effort of private donors and several government bodies. In all, $3.4 million in contributions were enough to buy the property.

The plot includes one mile of Honu'apo coastline and wetlands next to Whittington Park on the island's southern coast.

"I grew up here. I learned to swim here. We would come down and camp here as kids," said John Replogle, president of Ka 'Ohana O Honu'apo, a group formed to keep the Honu'apo estuary clean and free from development. "I want it to be here for future generations."

Efforts to preserve the area began after residents learned that land around the estuary was owned by LandCo, a California real estate company that planned to develop the area.

With help from the Trust for Public Land, the fundraising effort began.

Ka'u Councilman Bob Jacobson introduced a $500,000 appropriation to buy the land. State Rep. Bob Herkes D-5th (Ka'u, S. Kona) and Sen. Russell Kokubun D-2nd (S. Hilo, Puna, Ka'u) secured $1 million from the state. U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye (D-Hawai'i) and Rep. Ed Case (D-Hawai'i) got $1.5 million from the federal Estuary Protection Fund.

Then LandCo knocked $400,000 off the asking price and agreed to keep the property off the market until the sale to the county was complete.

"My hope is being realized, which is to preserve this site in perpetuity," said Patty Belcher, a member of Trust for Public Land.

The deal closed Dec. 24, 2005, to sell the land to the state, which handed it over to the county.

"This same group of people can work together again somewhere else in your district to make this thing happen," said Josh Stanbro, a project manager for Trust for Public Land.