State, city to spend $800K on Nimitz beautification
By Andrew Gomes
Advertiser Staff Writer
Two state agencies have agreed to chip in $400,000 toward an $800,000 beautification of Ala Moana and Nimitz Highway from Ward Avenue through downtown as part of a state-city partnership.
The state Aloha Tower Development Corp. board yesterday approved spending up to $400,000 for the state's share of the project, which would be designed, built and maintained by the city.
LIU
The Hawai'i Community Development Authority, the state agency overseeing planning in Kaka'ako, would reimburse Aloha Tower Development for its share of the $400,000, which is to be determined.
The city will pay for the other half of the project.
Ted Liu, who as director of the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism is a board member of both agencies, said the initiative will prevent the lapsing of $400,000 in the city budget for improving the boulevard.
The traffic artery is generally regarded as an ugly connector to Waikiki. Four years ago, the city, with state assistance, created a landscaped median along Ala Moana between Ward and Atkinson Drive.
The latest project will cover improvements from Ward Avenue past Aloha Tower Marketplace and possibly into Iwilei "as far as the funds will go," Liu said.
State Transportation Director Rod Haraga, an Aloha Tower Development Corp. board member, said the state will turn over its money to the city because the city's design and construction process is faster.
No timetable for design and construction was announced, nor was information given on how the project would affect traffic.
Carol Hopkins, a member of Scenic Hawai'i's Nimitz beautification committee, said she thought the improvement project was good news.
"I think it's great," Hopkins said.
"We've been doing Nimitz beautification for 15 years," she said, and the project would further Scenic Hawai'i's mission.
In what could further enhance the aesthetics of a portion of Nimitz Highway, a private developer who has proposed building a residential and commercial complex at Piers 5 and 6 yesterday shared refined design plans that included the road in a park setting from the Federal Building at 300 Ala Moana to the intersection at Fort Street Mall.
Ken Hughes of UC Urban, which is working with the state to assess the project's feasibility, proposed repaving that section of Nimitz possibly with granite, cobblestone or some other decorative material.
The idea would be to give drivers a sense that they were passing through a central park extending from the mauka sidewalk area to the edge of the harbor and incorporating Irwin Park and a park replacing Hawaiian Electric Co.'s power plant.
"We believe that by including all paving surfaces within the design of the landscaped space, a sensational public space unique to downtown Honolulu in the world can be achieved," Hughes said in an interim report to the Aloha Tower development board.
Hughes said the park setting also would encourage more pedestrian traffic at Aloha Tower Marketplace and his proposed project by "softening" the highway.
No traffic lanes would be removed under the proposal, which also included allowing traffic exiting Aloha Tower Marketplace to turn left at Richards Street, and adding a left turn lane into the marketplace at Fort Street Mall and Aloha Tower Drive.
Hughes, who has been exploring the redevelopment initiative for about a year, is expected to finalize his analysis in January and decide at that time whether to proceed.
Acquiring the power plant remains a potential barrier for the ambitious proposal, which includes about 400 low-rise loft residences, office space, a ferry terminal, boat slips and some restaurant and retail space.
If UC Urban and Aloha Tower Development Corp., which is helping to pay for the feasibility study, agree that the obstacles can be overcome, they would try to negotiate a development agreement with lease rent and other terms.
Reach Andrew Gomes at agomes@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8065.
