Kapolei site put at top of UH list
By Beverly Creamer
Advertiser Education Writer
Bowing to community wishes, the University of Hawai'i has narrowed its recommendations for a permanent West O'ahu campus to the original 500-acre site next to the Kapolei Golf Course.
But it has also suggested a potential fast-track Phase I campus on 16 acres in Kapolei between the state and city buildings.
A decision by the Board of Regents could come as early as tomorrow at its monthly meeting on Moloka'i.
In recommending the large parcel next to the golf course, the university committee headed by UH construction czar Allan Ah San is acceding to community demands for a space large enough to allow expansion.
The new preferred site is a grassy, windswept plain bordered by the golf course, Farrington Highway and Hawaiian Electric power lines. The poles form the demarcation line for a proposed north/south access road that the community is pushing the state to build.
"If the site is here, the community feels the north/south road will get the priority attention it needs," Ah San said.
The cost of the initial phase of the Kapolei Makai site to accommodate 2,750 students is estimated at $177.4 million. If the Legislature pays for the project, it could be up as early as fall of 2006, the committee says.
The campus ultimately would accommodate 7,600 students and cost $628.6 million, at today's projections.
Right now, the university envisions building on only about 300 acres — the size of the Manoa campus — and using the other 200 acres as revenue-producers, perhaps by using them to build housing.
The land is state-owned, but some permits and studies, including a habitat conservation plan, are still required, Ah San said.
In discussing the potential sites with the Regents' Committee on Finance and Facilities yesterday, Ah San also raised the possibility of an interim 16-acre downtown site with buildings as high as 10 stories, and as many as three levels of underground parking. The land, owned by the Campbell Estate, is part of the 40 acres set aside until 2006 for use by the state. The regents have the option of using that land at any time in the next four years.
