Posted at 5:20 p.m., Wednesday, August 1, 2001

Dobelle weighing medical school sites, football stadium

By John Duchemin
Advertiser Staff Writer

University of Hawaii president Evan Dobelle said today he is considering at least four possible sites for the location of a new medical school, and a location for construction of a new football stadium.

Dobelle said this afternoon that the sites under consideration include a West Oahu location near Kapolei, on state and Campbell Estate land, that could combine a new football stadium with UH-West Oahu and the medical school.

A previously-favored site in Kakaako also is still being considered, he said, as well as a possible location near Tripler Army Medical Center and a site in Waipio-Gentry near the Costco on Ka Uka Boulevard.

The proposed $140 million medical school had been slated for construction in Kaka'ako near Kewalo Basin.

The new medical complex would not only replace the existing medical school in Manoa, but supplement it with a research center designed to attract life science companies to set up shop nearby.

The current medical school has been in its Manoa building since the 1970s, but officials say new facilities are needed to attract quality faculty and increase medical research at UH.

Dobelle said he hopes to make a decision on a location for the medical center by the end of September when the university's board of regents meets in Maui.