Carving a state of the art athletic complex

By Dennis Anderson
Advertiser Staff Writer

Opening of the complex was delayed a year because of the difficulty of building on a hillside (5,000 truckloads of earth were removed) and a faulty drainage system that had to be "remediated," Kamehameha co-athletic director Blane Gaison said.

Construction took 17 months and came in $81,000 under budget. The school accepted the natural grass field, the final part of the complex to be completed, on Aug. 12.

Kunuiakea will be the site of football and soccer games, track and field meets — including next year's state high school championships — and events such as band festivals and Kamehameha Schools and alumni events. Physical education classes and sports practices will be held there also.

Kamehameha's junior varsity will play the first game there at 5 p.m. Saturday against Farrington's JVs. Varsity teams from Kamehameha and Baldwin of Maui will follow with a game under improved lights at about 7:30 p.m.

There is seating for 3,000.

"The 'ewa view is so good, it will be hard to concentrate on the football game," Kamehameha staff architect Walter Thoemmes said.

Don Paige of North Carolina, who was consultant on the track, said it is the best high school track in the nation. "Only the Jesse Owens track at Ohio State and the Olympic Training Center track in San Diego are better," said Paige, who said he has overseen construction of more than 150 running tracks.

"A lot of facilities have really nice grass fields, a lot have nice tracks, some have nice stadiums, some have nice lights, some nice scoreboards, some nice press boxes, some nice architectural features, but you won't find another facility in the U.S. that has all those elements like this one does," Paige said.

An all-school ceremony, open only to students, faculty and staff, will be held on Friday. The facility was blessed last week.

Competition already has been held at Kunuiakea. Hawai'i Special Olympics used the track for its state championship meet in June, but the field was not ready yet. The first competition on the field was a scrimmage between Kamehameha?s varsity football team and Farrington on Thursday. No score was kept.

"It's a first-class facility for our kids and the community to utilize," said Gaison, a Kamehameha alumnus. "To see it with my own eyes and get out there and run on the track and see the beauty of the harbors was like 'Wow.' "

Translation of Kunuiakea

The literal translation for Kunuiakea is "Stand Amidst Grand Expanse," Kamehameha spokesman Kekoa Paulsen said.

It was a name given to Kamehameha I by virtue of his selection as guardian and caretaker of Kuka 'ilimoku, the ancient feathered war image, which was also called by the same name.

Through Kamehameha's many conquests and battles, the name "Kunuiakea" became synonomous with Kamehameha himself.