Posted on: Monday, January 24, 2005

EDITORIAL
'Second City' moves closer to reality

Two recent news events signal the long-pursued dream of creating a real "second city" in West O'ahu at Kapolei may finally be coming true.

The first was a signal from Gov. Linda Lingle that she supports the University of Hawai'i's plan for a second four-year campus in Kapolei. A higher education package for the 2005 Legislature will include the necessary legal framework for UH to enter into a public/private partnership for development of a West O'ahu campus.

Involving a private developer in the construction of a campus will help UH save on capital costs. The payoff for the developer will come in part through the spinoff economic activity that a full-scale university campus would bring to the area.

The second piece of news involves an announcement by a local development partnership that it intends to build a major regional shopping center in the Kapolei area.

There have been any number of shopping center and entertainment center proposals for Kapolei in the past that never got off the ground.

But this latest plan, a joint venture between the MacNaughton Group and Kapolei developer Kobayashi Group, may have the legs necessary to actually get built.

A regional center would be more than another place to spend money, however. It would contribute to a deeper sense of community for Kapolei that will help the region be more than another suburb.

Both the West O'ahu campus and the regional shopping center are still a long way from reality. But news that these two projects are being seriously considered suggests that the "second city" concept is now much more than a pipe dream.