UH to expand dorm space

By Beverly Creamer
Advertiser Education Writer

The University of Hawai'i-Manoa, long considered primarily a commuter campus, is looking at providing as many as 1,000 new dorm rooms in the next two to four years, to create a safer environment for freshmen and make it easier to recruit Mainland and foreign students.

Preliminary plans for expanding dormitory space on the UH-Manoa campus include replacing vacant Frear Hall with a new dorm. Demand for rooms on campus has escalated in recent years. Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

"For the upcoming fall we're looking at trying to gather a couple hundred additional beds," said Darryl Zehner, director of housing for the university. "But long-term, in the next 24 to 48 months, we're looking at several hundred additional beds, possibly 1,000. If enrollment suddenly mushrooms, it could be 2,000 to 3,000."

There are already tentative plans in the next year to demolish the old Frear Hall dormitory, which has been closed for several years, and replace it with a new dorm that would provide 350 to 400 spaces. Such a building would cost from $25 million to $30 million, he said, with the university likely floating bonds to pay for construction.

In addition, the university has begun looking at existing rental apartments either in nearby neighborhoods or on convenient bus lines.

Hotel rooms are also a possibility. Just this past fall, Kapi'olani Community College worked out a deal with Outrigger Hotels and Marc Resorts to find hotel rooms and condos in Waikiki for 100 students displaced by crowded conditions at UH dorms. The cost to students: $400 per month in two-person rooms with such amenities as TV, swimming pool and once-a-week maid service.

"We're looking at either purchase or long-term lease of some of the local apartment buildings within a walking commute or a bus-line commute," said Zehner.

"We would like to find something that has a significant number (of suites) so that we would have them staffed," he said. "We would probably have a resident manager, and then, depending on the configuration, we might have additional resident advisers."

Increasing dorm space — and making it an integral part of campus life — is one of UH President Evan Dobelle's priorities. He has already talked about locating new dormitories in the midst of the campus, possibly replacing temporary buildings or parking lots.

"The president has strong interest in growing enrollment," said Zehner, "and in doing that it's going to have an impact on housing."

But the housing issue is a complex balancing act that seeks to weigh the needs of Neighbor Island students living away from home for the first time, with the push to recruit an even broader mix of Mainland and international students.

Within the next month, Zehner expects to have a new priority plan for dorm students that would likely focus on freshmen needs, while balancing those of local students with those of young people coming from the Mainland and abroad.

"We want to find ways to accommodate the demand rather than being forced to put limits," he said.

In the past year there were between 4,000 and 5,000 applicants for the 3,100 UH dorm rooms available, according to Laurie Furutani, assignment and conference housing officer for UH.

"Turning them away is as painful for us as it is for them," said Furutani.

Current housing priorities give space to Neighbor Island, O'ahu, Mainland and foreign students, in that order, and that has made recruitment difficult, said Martha Staff, international student adviser.

"It's shooting yourself in the foot if you go recruiting in (places like) Yugoslavia and Brazil and Russia and France, if you have to turn around and tell the kids, 'We want you to come, but we don't have any place for you to live,' " she said.

While enrollment of foreign students has seen a slight increase in the past year, recruiting is always made harder without living accommodations, Staff said.

"It's very critical they have a welcoming dorm situation to come to," she said.

Reach Beverly Creamer at bcreamer@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8013.