Raising softball field
will be costly

The estimate is $582,710
for raising the field at UH-Manoa
but it is not clear who will pay

By Richard Borreca
Star-Bulletin

The dirt at the University of Hawaii is getting expensive, but who will pay for it is still a mystery.

State officials estimate it will cost $582,710 to fix the state's new women's softball field built at the University of Hawaii-Manoa last year.

The stadium opened in January, but because the grandstand is too high, spectators could not see the entire playing field.

The solution, which will cost nearly half as much as the stadium, is to raise the level of the field between 4 and 5 feet.

The architect, Bryce Uyehara, prepared bids for raising the field and the qualified low bidder according to Gordon Matsuoka, state public works engineer, is Kaikor Construction Associates with a bid of $582,710.

It was not known who would pay the company, Matsuoka said.

State Comptroller Ray Sato said the state was trying to recover the costs from Uyehara's insurance company, but neither Matsuoka nor Sato knew who would finance the project.

"We opened bids, but we haven't actually awarded the project yet," Matsuoka said.

He said the state might be able to pay for the project with surplus money or with money from the architect or his insurance company.

In April, when the state said it would go out for bids on the stadium project, it also said it didn't know how it would pay for the work.

Uyehara was unavailable for comment yesterday.