Posted on: Wednesday, June 12, 2002
UH campus search down to two sites in Kapolei
By Scott Ishikawa
and Beverly Creamer
Advertiser Staff Writers
 |
UH-West O'ahu • What: A four-year undergraduate campus that would accommodate 6,500 to 7,500 students. |
University of Hawai'i officials have narrowed their preliminary search for the long-awaited West O'ahu university campus to two sites in Kapolei. But area residents have some concerns over both selections.
UH officials are looking at a 59-acre site next to Kapolei Middle School in the Villages of Kapolei residential subdivision, and a 29-acre location in the heart of downtown Kapolei as possible sites for the four-year undergraduate school. Both properties are state-owned.
The two sites are radical departures from the 990-acre UH campus previously planned near Makakilo, mauka of the H-1 Freeway. UH officials are confident that either Kapolei site — possibly with high-rise buildings to fit into the smaller spaces — could accommodate UH-West O'ahu's projected 6,500 to 7,500 students.
"With these two possible sites, we are looking at a suburban campus or urban campus, or both," said Karl Kim, UH interim vice chancellor for academic affairs. "But I want to be clear we are far from any decision-making on this; right now we're in the conceptual stages to gather community input."
Another option being considered is expanding the UH-West O'ahu interim campus next to Leeward Community College in Pearl City.
UH officials plan to offer a recommended West O'ahu location to the university board of regents in September. The plan is to partially open the new campus by 2005 to initially handle about 2,750 students.
But community leaders and residents who learned of the proposed campus sites last week question whether either Kapolei location is adequate to hold the projected number of students, and wonder about related traffic problems. State Sen. Brian Kanno, D-20th ('Ewa Beach, Makakilo, Kapolei), said he hopes UH officials will take a second look at other possible sites as well, including a 52-acre parcel near the Kapolei library.
"While our priority is getting this campus open as well, I think they're forcing the community to make a decision with limited choices," said Kanno, who attended a community meeting last week on the campus plan. "I just don't want us getting locked into the current size of these two sites. There may be ways, such as a land swap, to expand at either site."
But university officials insist this is just the start of a lengthy public input process, with plans to discuss their West O'ahu campus proposal at the 'Ewa and Makakilo/Ka-polei/Honokai Hale neighborhood board meetings in July.
Allan Ah San, UH associate vice president for administration and the point man for university building projects, said officials also are considering housing the UH-West O'ahu campus on both Kapolei sites, which are about two miles apart. A land swap with Campbell Estate to expand acreage on either site is still a possibility, he said.
"This does not preclude us from having both sites," Ah San said. "Right now, we're looking at where it would make the most sense to start on a campus. It doesn't preclude a second or third site."
If the campus is developed at two or more sites, Ah San said coordinated programs would be planned at each site to keep students from traveling back and forth.
Both Kapolei locations come with advantages and disadvantages, according to UH officials and Kapolei residents.
The 59-acre site off Kapolei Parkway between the Kapolei Middle School and 'Ewa Villages is on land where the state initially proposed a sports complex. While there is the appeal of an "Education Row" along Kapolei Parkway with middle and high schools next door, other residents are concerned about traffic congestion so close to a residential area.
"You already have parking problems in Manoa, so it makes you wonder if we would have similar problems here with this suburban campus," said Maeda Timson, a member of the Makakilo/Ka-polei/Honokai Hale Neighborhood Board. "I'm not sure how some residents would feel with several thousand students in their backyard, either."
The 29-acre site would be in the designated "civic center" section of Kapolei, next to the Kapolei state office tower and city "Kapolei Hale" building off Kamokila Boulevard.
Kim said the urban campus would create more interaction with the business community and government agencies for possible student internships and part-time work. The city's planned bus transfer station would also be in walking distance.
Ah San said high-rise campus buildings at the downtown Kapolei campus would better utilize the tighter space, including a 10-story tower for administrative and instructional purposes, and any such buildings would have to conform to Kapolei building codes and height restrictions.
The downtown Kapolei site would also have the advantage of a planned Kapolei H-1 Freeway on-ramp and a proposed four-lane road to deal with increasing traffic, but those projects are at least several years away.
For nearly three decades, UH leaders have looked at 16 possible locations for the new campus, including Mililani Mauka and Koa Ridge in Central O'ahu.
Until recently, the state had looked at its 990-acre Makakilo property mauka of the H-1 as the site for UH-West O'ahu. The Makakilo campus was to be financed by selling to developers 1,300 state-owned acres in East Kapolei makai of the H-1.
But with land values depressed by the sluggish economy, and a soft housing market overrun by developers, it became uncertain when and if the state could raise enough money — an estimated $200 million — to meet its goals for the Makakilo campus over the next decade.
"There were some extensive costs for infrastructure and drainage, along with other difficulties of building along a sloped area," Kim said.
Up until late last year, UH president Evan Dobelle was proposing to house a new university medical school and 60,000-seat football stadium on the UH-West O'ahu campus. The medical school is now being planned for Kaka'ako, and the university is looking at taking control of Aloha Stadium from the Stadium Authority.
Reach Scott Ishikawa at sishikawa@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2429.
Reach Bev Creamer at bcreamer@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8013.
