Gov. Ben Cayetano called it a moment "great for the University of Hawai'i and the people of Hawai'i," and said it would create a research center that would bring high-skilled biotech jobs to the state ­ "the jobs we don't have enough of."

And Cayetano lauded the late Gov. John A. Burns, a man without a college education but who served as the visionary who made this day possible.

"Today we're building on that vision," Cayetano said.

Today's line-up of dignitaries included U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka, U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie and the state's legislative leadership and legislators who made this happen. Their actions a year ago allowed the project to be backed by state monies from the tobacco settlement.

Medical School Dean Edwin Cadman called today "the beginning of revitalization for Kaka'ako that would bring jobs and research dollars into the economy.

"We will not betray your trust," he told legislators.

State Senate President Robert Bunda said the new medical school "should provide the catalyst to jump-start development of the whole Kaka'ako area" and said the state was a "giant step" closer in plans to create a thriving urban center at the waterfront.

House Speaker Calvin Say noted that this was partly a state response to shore-up the economy in the wake of Sept. 11.

"There was a great willingness to grasp the vision," he said.

The medical school will reshape Kaka'ako, vaulting it into prominence as a new urban Honolulu neighborhood with the potential of jobs, housing and entertainment in the same vicinity. UH President Evan Dobelle envisions 600-700 new construction jobs for the next three years of building, and potentially far more than 2,000 in the years to come as a biotech industry develops.