Three months after a windstorm blew off portions of the city's Kailua gym roof, the structure remains ravaged with a gaping hole through which rain has flooded and ruined the hardwood floor.

A contractor was repairing the roof during the summer and apparently stopped in August, leaving the work incomplete. Then, on Dec. 11, a windstorm ripped out a large segment of the roof, and a month later, a rain storm flooded the basketball court below.

The gym is now closed to all users, and they're wondering what's taking so long. The city has not returned calls by The Advertiser seeking an update but did say in January that it is making arrangements to install a new roof and floor.

Now work on the rec center pool has delayed its reopening, further frustrating park users.

"What makes me really angry is that it appears we have a botched roofing job that resulted in the destruction of a relatively new gym floor, and nobody is talking about how much it is going to cost, who is going to pay for it and when will it be repaired," said Phil Kinnicutt, who uses the pool. "All we have are four walls, a partial ceiling, concrete floor, locked doors and dead silence from the city and county. And to make matters worse, the pool is now over two weeks late in reopening after a planned one-month closure for equipment maintenance."

Hundreds of people use the gym weekly, including basketball and volleyball leagues, seniors and exercise classes. With no word on when work on the gym will begin, some people are wondering what will happen to the popular summer program if the gym isn't open.

Not much information is forthcoming from city officials. But several people said they have spoken with city officials, and the prediction is a long wait.

"We've gotten some communication back from the city that they anticipate the facility being hopefully up and running about this time next year," said Shawn Christiansen, president of the Kailua Basketball Association, which is winding up its season. "So we'll be another season pushed outside."

The basketball association, made up of 520 children, had to play games outside during one of the rainiest winters, Christiansen said. With volleyball season starting up, that league's 400 players will have to shift to other venues, he added.

In January, city spokesman Bill Brennan said in an e-mail that the existing metal roof deck and newly built up roof was torn off during the storm.

"The building is insured by the city," the e-mail said. "After payment of the deductible, the city's insurance company will be paying to fix the damaged areas of the roof."

At the time, city officials did not have a timetable for the project, and recent calls for updates and clarification about the project have not been returned.

The entire building, which houses rooms for meetings, weight training, exercise and the park's office, is closed.

Gym users are scrambling to find space for their activities that were held in the gym and are wondering why repairs are taking so long, said Linda Ure, secretary of the Kailua Neighborhood Board.

"The board has been told the contractor's liability is being examined, and therefore the repairs must wait until the liability is determined," Ure said in an e-mail. "The community just wants the new, damaged roof to be repaired so the building can be used."

The Kailua Neighborhood Board will investigate further, said chairman Charles Prentiss.

Andrew Malahoff, who is with the office of late Councilwoman Barbara Marshall, tried to get an update on the project but failed. Malahoff said the city Department of Design and Construction is handling the project.

"The Department of Parks and Recreation does have enough money, apparently, in their current budget to get those repairs expedited," he said.

Kinnicutt said he was a regular user of the pool, and his morning aerobic class was well aware of the roof project because of the smell. Everyone celebrated when work stopped in August and assumed it was done, he said.

"Then, all of a sudden, I show up for exercise class the day after the storm, and there was fiberglass strewn from one end of the rec center to the other," Kinnicutt said, adding that there were pieces in the pool as well.

Kinnicutt said he tried to get information about the progress of the project, but no one on the park's staff seemed to know.

"Staff at the pool shrug their shoulders, roll their eyes, and the common theme is it's an embarrassing situation and nobody wants to talk about it," he said. "There's just no word when it's going to be operational. I think a lot of us who are just involved in the Kailua community are concerned because there are a lot of summer programs based around that facility."