Posted on: Tuesday, June 3, 2003

Construction begins on UH medical school

By Beverly Creamer
Advertiser Education Writer

Construction of the new John A. Burns School of Medicine in Kaka'ako begins its vertical ascent today as the first-floor walls of the Education/Administration Building begin going into place.

The moment will be marked by a 10 a.m. ceremony highlighting remarks by Gov. Linda Lingle, University of Hawai'i President Evan Dobelle and Medical School dean Edwin Cadman.

The first building of the new complex, on 9.1 acres next to Kaka'ako Waterfront Park, is expected to be done in the fall of 2004 and the second building in fall 2005. The first building will include classrooms, while the second will be a Biomedical Research Building.

As the medical school construction ends, the university hopes to then launch construction nearby of a new Comprehensive Cancer Research Center that will be able to offer Hawai'i cancer patients cutting-edge new drugs not yet in general use. But that step is still in the negotiation stages.

The two institutions together will form a biomedical complex that officials say could provide the underpinning for a thriving biotech industry for the state.

The medical school has been in its current facility on the Manoa campus since the 1970s and more modern space is needed for research. The existing building will be renovated for lab use as part of the Phase II construction involving a new cancer center.

The new medical school is designed as a low-rise facility with extensive landscaping and on-site seating areas in a central courtyard.