Posted on: Sunday, January 30, 2005

NOAA seeks 20-acre waterfront site on O'ahu

By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Science Writer

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is shopping for a 20-acre site with waterfront access on O'ahu to consolidate offices for 500 to 600 of its employees in Hawai'i.

NOAA senior facilities manager John Shanahan in Washington, D.C., said the agency has identified a prospective site, although he is not ready to reveal its location. He also declined to estimate the cost of land, preparation and construction.

"We have completed internal studies regarding a prospective site and we've made a recommendation," he said. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command is conducting environmental studies on the location to meet the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act, he said.

Shanahan said he anticipates that the functions of every NOAA office complex in Hawai'i would be housed in the site, except for two agencies that need to be near specialized equipment. Those two are the National Weather Service complex on Dole Street and NOAA's tsunami-warning facilities.

The federal agency's offices include the Pacific Region headquarters, the Honolulu Laboratory of the National Marine Fisheries Service, its enforcement office, support facilities for research ships and others that are now scattered around the island, Shanahan said.

The new site needs to be near a harbor so it can have access to NOAA's three research vessels, he said. A fourth ship is anticipated.

Shanahan said NOAA expects to move into the new facility by January 2009.

Reach Jan TenBruggencate at jant@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 245-3074.