Posted on: Thursday, July 15, 2004

Plans for Maui tech center approved

By Timothy Hurley
Advertiser Maui County Bureau

The University of Hawai'i is moving forward with plans to construct an $8.6 million Advance Technology Center designed to upgrade and replace the Institute for Astronomy's Maui laboratory headquarters.

The project, proposed on a 3 1/2-acre site within the planned Kulamalu Town Center subdivision in Kula, is being designed to help attract the Advanced Technology Solar Telescope to the summit of Haleakala, one of three candidate sites for the $100 million project.

The proposed technology center is the same project that led to the resignation of Everett Dowling from the UH Board of Regents last year amid conflict-of-interest accusations.

Dowling, the developer of Kulamalu, resigned even though the state Ethics Commission had ruled there was no conflict as long as he recused himself from discussing the project with the board. Still, some board members said they were uncomfortable with the appearance that Dowling was getting an inside deal.

Institute of Astronomy officials said the Kulamalu site, with its zoning and ready infrastructure, offered the best opportunity for expedient development.

The institute is operating out of the Waiakoa Laboratory in Kula, an 80-year-old, two-story farm house that lacks space, facilities and the state-of-the-art instrumentation needed to adequately support the agency's high-tech research programs.

Officials said the new facility is needed not only to attract the new telescope but to maintain the institute's competitive edge in obtaining research grants.

The center initially will be a two-story building with 15,900 square feet of floor space for conference rooms, an auditorium, offices, rest quarters, laboratories and computer facilities. A second phase will include 34,600 feet of research area.

Construction is expected to begin later this year.

Late 2004 is also when site selection is anticipated for the Advanced Technology Solar Telescope. The other sites in the running for the world's largest ground-based optical solar observatory are Big Bear Lake, Calif., and La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain.

Reach Timothy Hurley at (808) 244-4880 or thurley@honoluluadvertiser.com.