UH delays decision on site for new medical school
By John Duchemin
Advertiser Staff Writer
New University of Hawai'i President Evan Dobelle intends to scrutinize the university's plan to build a medical school campus in Kaka'ako, and a top UH official indicates they may consider other sites.
Dr. Edwin Cadman, dean of the John A. Burns School of Medicine, said Dobelle wants to make sure the proposed $140 million center is in the right spot — and that Kaka'ako has enough space.
The new campus 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 proposed campus near Kewalo Basin is considered crucial to Kaka'ako planners, who have made it the main element in a sweeping waterfront redevelopment project.
A university spokeswoman confirmed yesterday that Dobelle intends to review the plan.
Cadman said Dobelle is not certain that Kaka'ako can house both the medical campus and companies that would want to cluster nearby. Cadman said the area has "sufficient space, but it is limited."
"(Dobelle) has no feeling about the site, because he hasn't been down there yet, but what he wants to do is make certain that if Kaka'ako's the site, everyone's behind it," Cadman said. "If not, then he wants to decide where should the campus be if not there."
Dobelle, who was in California this week, said the university needs to build its medical center on a site "that provides maximum benefit to all our citizens."
"We must reach closure on the site of a new medical school with a biotechnology park with strong and urban planning," Dobelle said in a faxed response to The Advertiser. "We must ensure that not only can we afford to build it, but that we can financially sustain it."
The statement mirrored Dobelle's comments in a speech this month to the Chamber of Commerce of Hawai'i.
Dobelle declined further comment, except to say he was excited about the potential of the medical school.
The statements are in contrast to the earlier enthusiasm of UH officials led by Cadman, who helped convince the Legislature this year to put $13 million toward planning and design of the Kaka'ako campus.
The medical school has been in its Manoa building since the 1970s. Cadman said new facilities are needed to attract quality faculty and increase medical research at UH.
Construction is to begin next year, provided the university can raise between $50 million and $75 million in private donations to supplement state bond financing. Cadman said the project has attracted interest from many potential backers, but no commitments yet.
A university decision to back out of Kaka'ako would deal a blow to the Hawai'i Community Development Authority's long-running effort to attract businesses, residents and visitors to the area.
Despite years of effort, the state authority has seen many of its development plans for Kaka'ako fall through.
Most recently, technology company Adtech Inc. pulled out of negotiations to lease state land and build a headquarters next to the proposed medical campus.
Jan Yokota, the authority's executive director, said she thought Dobelle's comments could indicate a shift in the university's thoughts toward Kaka'ako.
But Yokota said that planning for the medical campus still is moving forward, and that the authority will continue to prepare the land, moving tenants off the property and upgrading the infrastructure.
"We have not been told that the medical school will not be on this site," she said.
She noted that the university selected Kaka'ako after an extensive site survey last year. She said Kamehameha Schools, owner of a nearby tract of land, has expressed willingness to develop up to 11 acres for use as lab space, so the university should have adequate land.
