Navy's Ford Island plans get broad approval
By William Cole
Advertiser Military Writer
Two years ago, the National Trust for Historic Preservation was so concerned about redevelopment plans for Ford Island that it placed the landmark on its "11 Most Endangered Places" list.
Today, a master planning and development agreement with Fluor Hawai'i LLC will be signed that preservationists and the local business community feel good about.
Not only is the 34-acre development plan expected to pump $180 million into the local economy, but preservationists are satisfied that historic elements will be kept in place, officials said. Those include Luke Field and seaplane ramps still pocked by Dec. 7, 1941, strafing runs.
Separately, the Navy is pursuing projects such as the construction of a $18.9 million Navy lodge and 180 housing units.
"The development on Ford Island — from what had been proposed to what is happening now — is a great improvement," said David Scott, executive director of the Historic Hawai'i Foundation. "If there was going to be development on Ford Island, we wanted it to be limited and sensitive to historic resources, and the Fluor proposal seems to address many of our concerns."
The Navy last year picked a "medium intensity" development plan for Ford Island calling for up to 420 family housing units, bachelor-enlisted quarters for 1,000 personnel, 190,000 square feet of office space for 1,500 additional employees and a new training complex.
The multimillion-dollar project is part of a Navy effort to consolidate operations in the Pearl Harbor area under special legislation passed by Congress in 1999. It allows it to sell or lease outlying properties to develop parts of 450-acre Ford Island.
Fluor Hawai'i LLC, a joint venture of Hunt Building Co. and Fluor Federal Services LLC, was selected by the Navy last year to enter into exclusive negotiations for the public-private project.
Fluor will get 65-year lease rights on 34 acres at Ford Island for a conference center, waterfront promenade commercial center and some military housing in exchange for in-kind construction and infrastructure repairs.
Fluor plans to install nearly seven miles of new or improved roads, four miles of new pipe and put in 10 miles of new cable.
The Navy identified 702 acres at the former Barbers Point Naval Air Station and 515 acres at the former naval magazine in Waikele for sale, and 1,460 acres at Iroquois Point, 390 acres at Pu'uloa and 6.6 acres at Halawa Landing for lease.
Steps are being taken to renovate housing at Iroquois Point and Barbers Point. As of today, Iroquois Point no longer will be military only, officials said.
Navy-retained lands at Barbers Point — now called Kalaeloa — amount to 1,052 acres, which include 548 housing units. About 190 are occupied.
Jim Tollefson, president of the Chamber of Commerce of Hawai'i, said the Ford Island development plan "is great news."
"It will be a real shot in the arm for local business — both large, medium and small," Tollefson said. "One-hundred eighty million dollars ... will provide some real opportunities for local companies."
In May, Fluor Federal Services met with about 300 potential subcontractors to discuss the project.
Historic Hawai'i's Scott, meanwhile, said historic seaplane ramps and roads, and most of Luke Field are being preserved.
"In 1997, the whole north side was going to be housing, and the whole south side was going to be a festival market," Scott said. "(The latest design represents) huge changes from the '97 plan."
The airfield at Ford Island, which is often referred to as the Gettysburg of the Pacific for its central role in the Japanese attack, had been slated to be replaced by a park with contrasting grass to represent runway numbers and palm trees delineating its length.
Bachelor-enlisted quarters were earmarked for the old seaplane ramps, Scott said.
Scott said it is critical that the Military Aviation Museum of the Pacific be allowed to move into three hangars on 22.7 acres of land.
"That will really preserve a segment of the historic site," he said.
B. Allan Palmer, hired to run the proposed aviation museum, in May said the group had reached agreement in principle with the Navy for a lease for the $53 million project.
