Dozens of people and organizations are volunteering to help the Children's Discovery Center fight back against graffiti vandals who in recent months have used the Kaka'ako museum like a blank canvas, officials said yesterday.

"We're getting call after call from people who are offering to do whatever it takes," said center President Loretta Yajima.

For almost eight years, the museum, visited by more than 80,000 kids a year, has existed relatively problem-free as an early outpost in the long-planned development of Kaka'ako Waterfront Park.

Now, though, as government officials clear out old buildings, build roads and other infrastructure and ponder future development in the park in a spurt of activity, vandals have moved in.

In particular, the demolition of a city refuse center next to the children's center exposed a long concrete wall that has been repeatedly "tagged" by graffiti vandals in the past few months, Yajima said. And some people are using the museum's loading dock as a late-night place to hang out and drink, she said.

Among other problems, vandals ripped out a chain preventing access to the loading area, stole a security camera and took down no-trespassing signs, she said. Damage has been estimated at more than $3,500, she said.

"Sometimes when I come to work very early in the morning, I find these very tough guys still here with their tattoos and beer bottles," said Yajima, a grandmotherly, slightly built woman who used the force of her effervescent personality to spearhead the funding and construction of the children's center in a building that was once a city incinerator.

The park, built on the site of a landfill where municipal garbage was dumped for more than 50 years, was first developed in the 1980s, but its expansion has moved forward in spurts and stalls since then.

At least two large-scale private plans, including waterfront businesses and residences, have been considered and rejected because of public concerns over commercialization and other issues. The agency is now studying new ideas for the 38-acre park area, whose only other existing tenant is the University of Hawai'i Medical School.

In the last year, the Hawai'i Community Development Authority, the state agency that controls development in Kaka'ako, has continued clearing old tenants and building new roads through the park, opening it up to more traffic.

"The ultimate objective is to create a better community and expand the park area," said HCDA Executive Director Daniel Dinell. "In the interim, we're keen to assist in any way possible, and I'm confident once the construction is finished and the park is expanded, we'll be in a much better position to control the problems."

Yajima said the construction has given the children's center more visibility.

"The good news is that we're more visible from Ala Moana Boulevard. That's the bad news, too," she said.

HCDA officials said that ultimately the new roads and other improvements in the park district will result in more traffic and parking and fewer problems.

"The end result will be a vastly improved space with streets, lighting and public parking. These are all very desirable outcomes."

Honolulu police said they have increased day and night patrols in the park, but do not consider it a major problem area.

"The whole area has a lot of construction going on right now, and there are occasional incidents," said Lt. Bennett Martin of the Police Department's District I, which includes urban Honolulu. "We have officers on two ATVs who patrol the waterfront from Ala Moana to Kaka'ako, and we're aware of the complaints."

John Breinich, chairman of the Ala Moana-Kaka'ako Neighborhood Board, said the graffiti problem isn't unique to the park.

"Graffiti is a big problem in our district. There's so much construction going on all over in highly visible areas. Any blank wall they see suddenly becomes a canvas for them," he said.

Despite the development problems, Yajima remains optimistic about the park's future.

"I'm still very excited. Imagine some day having all these facilities in the middle of a beautiful waterfront park. It's just been a little longer in coming than we first imagined," she said.

In the short term, the two-story, 37,000-square-foot museum, which offers five hands-on exhibit areas, is studying ways to eliminate the graffiti and use the many offers of help that have been flowing in from around the community.

"One football coach offered to come down with his team and paint the whole wall over. Another guy called to say he would loan us a spray painter. There's a sincere desire to help us create a place where children can be safe and secure and still have a great learning environment."

Dinnell said HCDA has also offered to help paint over the graffiti or put in new landscaping that will obscure the public wall. The agency is also working with police to establish a neighborhood watch program in the area, he said.

Construction of the new road and parking areas is expected to be complete by February or March, he said.

Reach Mike Leidemann at mleidemann@honoluluadvertiser.com.