By Kathryn Bender, Star-Bulletin
Above, people wait for a sneak preview of the proposed
Children's Museum and Theater, a primary feature of the
Kakaako Makai Gateway Park, dedicated yesterday.

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Kakaako
dream park
introduced

A world-class aquarium would be
the focal point of the waterfront
playground, once funds are found

By Lori Tighe
Star-Bulletin

The vision for the Kakaako Aquarium by the sea: a big, beautiful, world-class aquarium in a signature building the people of Hawaii call theirs and where the monk seals play.

The idea along with artist renderings were unveiled yesterday by Gov. Ben Cayetano at a blessing to open the Kakaako Makai Gateway Park.

"The revitalization of Kakaako is starting to take shape," he said. "We are transforming Kakaako's waterfront into a people place for Hawaii's families and visitors with the Children's Museum and Theater at its core, and a world-class aquarium as an anchor."

"We want to create one of the best aquariums in the world," said Bruce Carlson, director of the Waikiki Aquarium, which would relocate into the new Kakaako facility.

The aquarium would be an interpretive center for Hawaii's ocean environment, Carlson said. It would feature large fish like ahi (yellow-finned tuna), mahimahi (dolphin fish), coral reefs, monk seals, dolphins and sea turtles.

"It would be very interactive for kids to engage in. They could get in the water in certain areas," Carlson said. "It offers the best opportunity and the best location with a commanding view of Diamond Head and Waikiki surfers."

The aquarium would cost $75 million to $100 million and be funded with state bonds, federal monies, private grants and donations, said Cayetano.

"It's do-able, believe me," he told reporters.

An artist's rendering of plans for the Kakaako Makai Gateway Park
shows the planned aquarium in the right foreground and the Children's
Museum and Theater in the left foreground.

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Questioned on whether the aquarium pitch was a political campaign maneuver, Cayetano said the vision emerged about two years ago.

"The idea has been around a long time," said Alex Achimore, director of planning for the Hawaii Community Development Authority, charged with transforming the Kakaako waterfront area.

"It's been killed by politicians and a lack of vision. It's the most expensive type of building you can build," Achimore said.

"But when you think of Hawaii, it should have a natural environment museum uniquely Hawaiian."

A feasibility study looked at constructing an aquarium that could attract 750,000 visitors a year and support a $34 million debt.

Unlike the Maui Aquarium, a for-profit operation that charges adults upward of $30 for tickets, the Kakaako Aquarium would try to attract locals as well as tourists, Achimore said. Tickets would cost $9 for kamaaina adults, $12 for visitors.

"But where do you come up with the money to build it? The governor is clear it's not going to be public money," he said.

The public needs to buy into the aquarium's vision, Carlson said.

"The community has to back it, because it has to raise at least $50 million. It's a formidable effort, but that's the way it has to be."

Fund raising and development would take five years before construction could begin, Carlson said.

A key part of the Kakaako Aquarium involves the University of Hawaii, he said. The grand scheme pulls together the Waikiki Aquarium and UH facilities including the Kewalo Marine Mammal Laboratory, which trains dolphins, the Kewalo Marine Lab, which researches marine animals, and the National Marine Fisheries Service Marine Lab. Currently these groups are in "shacky little houses" in the Kakaako waterfront area, Carlson said.

"The vision is to create a campus of education and research where they share sea water," he said, "and the public can see what they're doing."