UH-Hilo plans China-U.S. Center

By Glenn Scott
Advertiser Staff Writer

The University of Hawai'i at Hilo is close to a deal with a Taiwanese investment group to build an $80 million campus complex envisioned to extend the school's Big Island programs and its international reach.

The proposed China-U.S. Center would hold housing for 600 students, retail shops, a cineplex, and a conference center, hotel and tower. All would be worked into buildings and gardens featuring the design of classic Han Dynasty architecture.

Plans call for the 36-acre center to become a distinctive part of campus, making space for visiting academic and scientific conferences and serving as a spawning ground for an international master's degree program in U.S.-China relations.

Last week, university officials met with the controller of the investment group Geo International Explorer Inc. to review its business plan. The group would put up the estimated $80 million in capital and receive revenue from housing and retail operations. University spokesman Gerald DeMello said both sides are optimistic.

Heading Geo International is George Tai-Ping Huang, chairman of Crown Asia Construction Co. Ltd. Huang's son, Norman Chi Huang, attended UH-Hilo in 1998-99.

Final plans for the center come at a time when both the United States and Taiwan are experiencing political friction withChina. But UH-Hilo officials say the center's aim will be to promote warmer relations. On Monday, university officials will confer with leaders of the Great Wall University, a new offshoot of prestigious Beijing University, and discuss joining in the center.

DeMello described Huang's group as "people committed to good will." The title for the tower suggests good intentions.

Its name: Harmony Tower.