(BIVN) – The Hawai‘i County Department of Parks and Recreation welcomed the public back to the Pāhoa District Park on Monday, after the facility served for 138 days as an emergency shelter during the eruption of Kīlauea Volcano. The shelter closed on September 17. It was the longest running shelter in the state of Hawaiʻi, officials say.

Kahu Kimo Awai performed a Hawaiian blessing at 3 p.m. before the opening of the covered play courts and upper baseball fields.

The Pāhoa Community Aquatic Center remains closed. A deadline to submit bids to the County for proposals to complete restoration work at the pool were due on November 5, a previous media release stated. Officials say the project addresses two primary scopes – the complete removal of all “Pele’s hair” (fine threads of volcanic glass which are formed when a spray of lava droplets cools rapidly in the air) from the facility, and the repair of cracks in the main pool’s basin and deck area. The completion date of the project is to be determined.