Posted on: Sunday, May 22, 2005

$7.8M Parker Ranch donation to benefit Waimea community

Associated Press

WAIMEA, Hawaii — The Parker Ranch Foundation Trust yesterday donated land and cash worth $7.8 million to protect Waimea's rural lifestyle and improve the education and healthcare opportunities for its residents.

The trust's four beneficiaries are the North Hawaii Community Hospital, Hawaii Preparatory Academy, Parker School Trust Corp. and the Richard Smart Fund.

"This is what we work for," said Chris Kanazawa, the ranch's president and chief executive. "It certainly fulfills the vision of Richard Smart in benefiting the community."

When Smart, great-great-grandson of the ranch founder, died in 1992, the family's ranch rolled over into the trust foundation.

The community hospital received 48 percent of the latest distribution, a couple of dozen acres of land valued at $3.7 million. The land is earmarked for new facilities, including doctors' offices and perhaps a long-term- care unit.

"To have land as a hospital is such a luxury," hospital Board of Directors president Pat Bergin said. "We've got all kinds of ideas, but we haven't quite settled on anything yet."

Hawaii Preparatory Academy and Parker School each received $1.2 million in land and cash. Both schools eventually expect to expand their campuses.

Parker School will open an elementary school in August, adding 70 students and bringing enrollment to 260. The money also will be used for financial aid and scholarships, director of advancement Keawe Liu said.

The academy received 130 acres, more than doubling the school's properties. While the pasture land likely will be left to regenerate for several years, future plans include elementary and middle school facilities, school officials said.

One of the five largest ranches in the United States, Parker Ranch encompasses more than 175,000 acres across the north end of the Big Island. Surrounding the town of Waimea, it stretches between the Kohala and Mauna Kea mountains.