BUILD it properly and they will come. That's a good slogan for this field of schemes. Unlike the field, UH’s
foul-up is in plain sightWhat was supposed to be an architectural testament to the University of Hawaii's commitment to gender equity instead became an archeological find.
Even though nary a fan has been in the stands, the new softball stadium already is a dinosaur. If someone sat in it before the stadium's completion, Hawaii wouldn't be stepping in it to the tune of a half-million dollars.
Granted, that's the high end of the ballpark figure being kicked around the infield to repair an error that already has cost taxpayers $1.2 million. But even one thin dime would be too much.
Surely, it wouldn't have been too much for someone in the athletic department to grab the pine in the early stages of construction of the 1,200-seat facility and ask, "Who's on first?" Now, because most views from the stands are obstructed, that will be tough to say.
My parents built several homes during my youth and I vividly recall spending as much time in the one under construction as the one we called home. They didn't want to leave anything to chance. Sound advice, wouldn't you say?
The first excuse tossed out by university officials for this debacle was that no one knew how to read a blueprint. Translation: We don't have the right people on the job. Well, imagine that.
University and state officials also are laying the blame on a design problem. Translation: The architect doesn't know home plate from first base, and obviously, neither does the athletic department.
DESPITE an electrical supply building that's in the way, the architect was supposed to build the stands seven feet high. He went to 14 feet, and boom, this off-the-wall project is suddenly beyond immediate repair.
Strangely quiet in this three-ring circus is architect Bryce Uyehara, who is falling face-first off Hawaii's version of the great wall of China, just as a good state contractor should. His reward will be another state project somewhere down the road and far away from the softball stadium.
Unfortunately, the taxpayers are left behind to foot the bill. Possible solutions include raising the field, rebuilding the stands, or changing portions of the design after the season. As a result, total cost could exceed $1.5 million. In these tough economic times, that's a difficult expenditure to explain to your constituents.
It's a good thing Maui Mayor Linda Lingle didn't consult UH after she decided to give War Memorial Stadium a make over for the Hula Bowl, or the stands might be facing the wrong direction.
Over a four-month period on that project, an average of 27 employees worked 10 hours a day, six days a week to upgrade the locker rooms and press box, put in a Jumbotron scoreboard and add aluminum bleachers to the existing sideline foundations. All for the same $1.2 million price.
MEMBERS of the State legislature, who helped pass a bill last spring allowing UH to streamline procurement purchases, such as temporary stands for the UH soccer field or football equipment, must be wondering if they voted the right way on this measure.
In recent years, athletic department officials cried foul when president Kenneth Mortimer cut money from their budget.
He came to their rescue last summer by not removing the equivalent of $600,000 from the department's budget as was originally planned. And what ends up happening? A stadium built perhaps 300 yards from the building that houses the athletic department is virtually useless.
This is an embarrassment to the athletic department for not making sure its new stadium was built properly. And someone over there should step up to the plate - if he can see it - and take responsibility for the whiff.
Of course, that would be a novel idea for a department hellbent on the phrase, "He did it." But a refreshing one, just the same.
Paul Arnett has been covering sports
for the Star-Bulletin since 1990.
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