Amphitheater repairs planned
By Beverly Creamer
Advertiser Education Writer
After a year's closure because of cracking concrete, chipped tiles and dangerous metal protruding from areas in its circular bleacher seating, Andrews Amphitheater at the University of Hawai'i is about to be mended.
Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser
University associate general counsel Robert Mash has finalized a settlement with the insurance company that bonded the now-defunct contractor, PCE Ltd., to put $295,000 into repairs on the amphitheater and have it reopened for events by the fall semester.
When repairs are completed, bleachers at Andrews Amphitheater will have a smoother, softer surface. The last event there was May's law school graduation.
The last event in the outdoor amphitheater was last year's May 19 law school graduation.
According to Mash, Island Insurance, PCE's bonding company, has agreed to complete repairs in 90 days from the date of the signed agreement, April 7. Repairs will include fixing or replacing the concrete surface on the seating areas, applying a protective deck coating and retiling the entire amphitheater.
Attorney Kale Feldman, representing Island Insurance, said work by Island Design and Construction Ltd. will start immediately and take about 4 1/2 months. He said the agreement specifies 90 working days, not 90 consecutive days.
"The president, Eric Morgan, was instrumental in coming up with a design acceptable to both the bonding company and the university," Feldman said. Referring to a concrete seating surface that has been unstable, he said, "They'll drill pins every so many feet and put a coating to secure and stabilize it.
"Some metal framework is going to be removed and replaced with a new tile system."
When complete, the seating area will have a smoother, softer surface, Feldman said.
PCE did the work several years ago on a contract worth $395,100. PCE has since gone out of business, according to Mash. The university had withheld final payment of $116,900, but will pay that to the insurance company under this new agreement to make repairs, said Mash, who has been working on a settlement for six months.
"The university is pleased with the settlement because it is only paying the remaining contract balance and Island is paying for additional remedial work at no cost to the university," Mash said.
"Island will ensure that all of the delaminated concrete and the tile problems will be completely remedied, the structural integrity and aesthetics of the amphitheater will be greatly enhanced, and the university community will be able to use the amphitheater at the earliest possible date."
Over the past year the UH student newspaper Ka Leo O Hawai'i has noted that the closure of Andrews has meant that many campus events, including concerts that could have raised money for the Activities Council, have had to be canceled or moved.
Reach Beverly Creamer at bcreamer@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8013.
