Dobelle, city push to move UH-West O'ahu to Kapolei
By Jennifer Hiller
Advertiser Education Writer
University of Hawai'i president Evan Dobelle and city officials yesterday spoke in favor of building the West O'ahu campus in Kapolei instead of the hilly, vacant 900-acre site on the mauka side of H-1, one and half miles west of Waipahu that has been set aside.
In the next 60 days, the university will announce the plans and pricetags for an array of long-range projects that could signal major growth of the 10-campus system, including the locations for a permanent West O'ahu campus, a medical park and a new football stadium.
Dobelle, speaking to House and Senate members, also said that the plans will address developing more dormitories and a college-town atmosphere in Manoa, expansion of campuses on the Neighbor Islands and how to address the more than $170 million backlog in repairs and maintenance.
He will present the plan to the UH Board of Regents at its Nov. 15 and 16 meetings at Kaua'i Community College.
A West O'ahu campus has long been envisioned off the H-1 Freeway near Waipahu. But infrastructure such as city streets, sewer, water service and electricity already exist in Kapolei, which Dobelle said could develop a college-town atmosphere. The mauka campus that has traditionally been envisioned by Gov. Ben Cayetano does not have even a freeway exit.
Randy Fujiki, director of planning and permitting for the city and county, said the city would prefer a Kapolei campus because it could be built more quickly there. "I think the isolation is a concern (at the mauka site), he said. "Many great universities are part of a city."
Hazel Sumile, Department of Education superintendent for the Leeward district, also made a "plea from the heart" for the development of the campus, while Leeward-area developers who attended the meeting said ready access to higher education is the only missing link in developing a "second city."
West O'ahu has had a transient campus for more than 25 years. Its current home is a collection of portable buildings on a corner of Leeward Community College.
"This time West O'ahu is a real deal," Dobelle said. "We're going to get this done." Dobelle said he envisions recreating UH-Manoa as Hawai'i's version of the University of California at Berkley, while the West O'ahu campus would be more like the commuter campus at San Diego State University.
A new medical school and possibly a new football stadium could also go on the West O'ahu campus. The medical school appeared set to go into Kaka'ako until Dobelle decided to review plans this summer. The medical school has been in its Manoa building since the 1970s, but officials say they need new facilities to attract quality faculty and increase medical research at UH.
Academic programs across all the campuses — and especially plans to create a stronger undergraduate program at Manoa — would be reviewed as the construction moves forward. "While it's being built we can work on the academic program," Dobelle said.
