The new storage facility at Blaisdell Center.
By Dennis Oda, Star-Bulletin

Storage space,
the final frontier

Homeowners who run out of space for this and that can get one of those prefab aluminum storage sheds from any home-improvement store. Screw it together, pop it onto a foundation; it's no tougher than your standard-issue some-assembly-required Barbie toy late on Christmas Eve.

But what if you're the Blaisdell Center? Think about all those tables and chairs and tools and lightbulbs and blank tickets and carp food that have to be stashed.

Accordingly, the latest phase of Blaisdell's architectural rehabilitation therapy is now being completed, a shop-and-storage facility on Kapiolani Boulevard, in between the new parking lot and the giant-clam Arena.

The $3.9 million structure is scheduled to be handed over to the City auditoriums department before the end of the year. In addition to storage space, a number of offices and shops are included for the Center's maintenance crews.

"Many don't remember, but there was no room designed for the tradespeople in the original Blaisdell," said City Auditoriums Trail Boss Carla Coray. "Instead, holes were chopped under the stairwells, and the mechanics and painters and maintenance repair people and whoever have been operating in those spaces."

The new building is pretty basic, said Coray, but it's not designed as a public-entertainment extravaganza. It's a working structure, and they can't wait to move in and start working.

"Once it's accepted by the City, then - then! - we can move all our junk in," said Coray.

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By Burl Burlingame, Star-Bulletin