College could be
cooking at site on
Diamond Head

Kapiolani officials plan culinary
studies at the Cannon Club

By Treena Shapiro
Star-Bulletin

The University of Hawaii Board of Regents was scheduled today to approve acquisition of the former Cannon Club site on Diamond Head to expand the culinary arts program at Kapiolani Community College.

The state purchased the Cannon Club site from the U.S. Army in March. The state had originally planned to use the site to expand Diamond Head State Monument, but the Legislature rejected the proposal. The university now hopes to have the land transferred to Kapiolani Community College.

Allan Ah San, associate vice president for the administration, said obtaining the parcel would allow the community college to expand its Culinary Arts of the Pacific program, providing the chance to offer graduate programs showcasing celebrity chefs.

A restaurant facility could also be incorporated into the plan.

Alison Kay, professor emeritus at Kapiolani, provided the only testimony opposing the plan during a committee meeting yesterday.

Kay said it would be easier to have the 7.8-acre parcel folded into the state park if it remained under the jurisdiction of the Department of Land and Natural Resources.

"This is the last remaining part of the monument, the potential full monument of Diamond Head," she said.

The regents will also decide whether to confer an honorary doctorate of humane letters on President Kim Dae-jung of the Republic of Korea when, and if, he is ever present to receive it.

Dae-jung, Nobel Peace Prize winner in 2000, could be in Hawaii for the centennial of the arrival of the state's first immigrants from Korea in 2003.