West O'ahu UH campus negotiations bog down

By Robbie Dingeman
Advertiser Staff Writer

The latest proposed site of the University of Hawai'i's West O'ahu campus is next door to Kapolei Middle School and High School on a state-owned parcel that was once slated to be a state sports complex.

Gov. Ben Cayetano said state officials had envisioned transforming Kapolei into a college-town atmosphere like Eugene, Ore., by building in downtown Kapolei and were headed in that direction.

However, "Our negotiations with the Campbell Estate, as a result of the Legislature not giving us the $150 million that we wanted, has kind of bogged down," Cayetano said.

Cayetano said the 64-acre site has utilities, is graded and has room for expansion. The parcel once was touted as a "field of dreams" for those who thought that Japanese and Korean professional baseball players would come here to train if the facility was built.

Cayetano last year backed away from the sports complex — once a pet project of former Senate President Norman Mizuguchi — saying he didn't see any evidence that visiting players would want to use it.

Mizuguchi had charged that Cayetano was retaliating for the Senate's controversial rejection of the reappointment of then-Attorney General Margery Bronster and then-Budget Director Earl Anzai in April 1999. Cayetano said there was no connection.

The school began in 1976 and has yet to find a permanent home. It now operates out of a facility next to Leeward Community College. The Legislature recently set aside $8 million for planning and design.

"The Legislature should make up its mind," said Cayetano. "If it doesn't give us the money for West O'ahu, then it should eliminate the project altogether and let's not worry about it anymore," he said.