Kakaako aquarium Plans to build a world-class aquarium for Hawaii have resurfaced with an international development firm proposing to build a privately financed facility in Kakaako as part of a marine research complex.
dream is reborn
The proposed facility would be
part of a research complexBy Dave Segal and Richard Borreca
desgal@starbulletin.com rborreca@starbulletin.comIn the closing days of Gov. Ben Cayetano's administration, the Hawaii Community Development Agency has revived a long-stalled plan of Cayetano's to put a large aquarium on state land.
The aquarium project has been pushed by every governor since 1986, but the projects have repeatedly failed.
Yesterday, the HCDA unanimously approved a request by KUD International LLC to enter into exclusive one-year negotiations with the firm to lease about 10.4 acres at the Point Panic area of the Kakaako waterfront from the state to develop a complex that would include an aquarium of about 125,000 square feet.
It also would include marine research facilities for the University of Hawaii and other tenants.
COURTESY IMAGE
An artist's rendering of the area at Point Panic where the new aquarium and marine research complex would be built.
"We believe that this fits the vision that HCDA has with Cayetano and (University of Hawaii medical school Dean Edwin) Cadman for a biotech center," said Kip Kamoto, branch manager for Kajima Construction Services in Hawaii.
KUD International, which built the San Francisco Giants' new baseball stadium, Pacific Bell Park, has proposed building the complex for approximately $200 million to $250 million. The cost does not include parking, site preparation and land costs. The facility would incorporate the existing Waikiki Aquarium and the University of Hawaii's marine research facilities, such as the Pacific Biomedical Research Center.
San Francisco-based EHDD Architecture, which was hired to design the complex, has designed the Monterey Bay Aquarium, Aquarium of the Pacific, an addition to the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago and the National Aquarium and Marine Biology Center in Kenting National Park in Taiwan.
"As far as the character of the (Hawaii) aquarium, we feel extremely strongly that it will be an iconic building, be very visible and be a symbol for Kakaako," said Duncan Ballash, an EHDD principal. "We're looking at a taller building, somewhere near the height limits for the site, because we want the building to give the area an identity.
"It really would be an anchor building for Kakaako," he said.
State information director Jackie Kido said the project had Cayetano's support.
"The governor has been working with community leaders over the years to get something like this going," Kido said.
The state will now start negotiations with KUD, a major international construction firm, to develop, operate and finance the complex.
"Construction would probably be two years down the road for the whole complex," Kamoto said. "This is still in its early preliminary stages."
KUD International is a subsidiary of Kajima U.S.A. Inc., which is a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Kajima Corp.
