Change on the
Ewa horizon
The closure of Barbers Point
brings change, mixed emotions
and new servicesMore base closings ahead?
By Gregg K. Kakesako
A brief history of Barbers Point.
Star-BulletinCome July 1, Barbers Point Naval Air Station, a landmark on the Ewa plain for a half-century, will be history.
Even its name will disappear, replaced by the Kalaeloa Community Development District, which will house a general aviation airport, shelters and training facilities for the homeless and veterans, and acres of park and beach space.
The station's closure is stirring mixed emotions among some longtime residents.
"Some of us thought it was a mistake to close the base because we still feel it is needed for national security," said Dick Beamer, retired Army major and member of the Ewa Neighborhood Board for the past 20 years.
"That's the reason we fought to keep the airstrip open: so it will be there in case of emergencies," said Beamer, 80, who also has been Ewa Beach Community Association president 17 times since 1980."It's been like a second home to me and many others. However, I think the redevelopment plan is going to be a benefit to the entire community out here."
"And the golf course, post exchange and commissary will still be there for us military retirees."
The biggest economic impact from making over Barbers Point will be the conversion of 586 acres to the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, valued at $500 million. The agreement resolved demands for compensation for the Navy's use of Hawaiian Home Lands at the Naval Magazine at Lualualei.
Hawaiian Homes plans to develop the acreage for commercial uses, such as a motor speedway, to help native Hawaiians start new businesses.
Of the air station's 3,700-plus acres, 1,173 acres will be retained by the Navy, 450 acres will be used by other federal agencies such as the Hawaii Army National Guard, and the remaining 2,140 will be available for dispersal.
Beach access and aviation
One public benefit will be new access to miles of white sand beaches, surfing spots and picnic areas.
Although the Navy will retain control of White Plains and Nimitz beaches, the public will be allowed to use those facilities, said Bill Bass, executive director of the Barbers Point Naval Air Station Redevelopment Commission.
The beaches are part of a 333-acre regional park complex that will be managed by the city, he said.
Also available for public use will be 250 acres for baseball and other field sports. The city has designated that area as the Pacific International Sport Complex, which could be used as a training site by visiting teams, Bass said.
Meanwhile, state transportation officials are already working with Hawaii's general aviation community to move some 200 small planes and several related businesses from Keehi Lagoon to Barbers Point.
Jerry Matsuda, airports administrator, said his department has received $2.6 million to build a security fence around the runways and to design and install lighting and navigational aids.
"Our goal is to move everyone over who wants to move," Matsuda said, "and we hope to provide some economic relief ..."
The Navy has spent more than $400 million to improve the three runways -- each more than 8,300 feet -- the prominent feature of the naval complex. By July 2, the 725-acre complex will be fully operational and ready to serve general aviation, said Bass.
Freed from the need to carry extra fuel since the Barbers Point runway could be used in emergencies, airlines have estimated they will save more than $1.6 million, he said.
Matsuda said plans call for closing all general aviation traffic to Ford Island by year's end and moving its touch-and-go-landing operations to Barbers Point. The goal is to minimize the mix of small single-engine planes and large commercial jets at Honolulu Airport, he said, moving most -- if not all -- of general aviation operations to Barbers Point by the end of next year.
It will cost nearly $275 million to improve Barbers Point's infrastructure by the year 2022; so far, the commission has received $370,000 in federal funds and an additional $96,000 from the state for that task."The Navy system there should be able to support us until 2008, when construction is expected to begin on the university's new (West Oahu) campus," said Bass.
By working with the university and with housing projects planned for the area, Bass hopes to have Barbers' infrastructure needs coordinated and incorporated. The commission also is seeking relief from city zoning requirements by having the area designated a special design district.
A bit of Barbers history
In ancient Hawaii, the Ewa wetlands and salt flats were referred to as Kalaeloa, meaning long cape or headland, and believed to be the legendary birthplace of Hawaiian kings.
Barbers Point Naval Air Station covers 3,700 acres. When the military gates close July 1, the Navy will retain 1,100 acres for housing, a medical center, commissary and post exchange, and golf course. Here's how the rest of the land will be used (in acres): New uses for Barbers Point
General aviation airport: -- 725
Barbers Point is named after Capt. Henry Barber, who ran his 100-foot brig Arthur aground there during a tropical storm on Oct. 31, 1796. Only Barber and two of his crew survived.
The area was used mainly for cattle grazing until the 1900s when the Navy leased a 3,000-foot parcel for a mooring site for the dirigible Akron. After the lease expired, the Navy bought more than 3,500 acres from Campbell Estate in 1940. The area was called Ewa Marine Corps Air Station until 1942.
The station now occupies more than 3,700 acres, bounded by Campbell Industrial Park to the west, the Kapolei subdivision to the north, the Ewa Beach residential communities and open space to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the south.
More than 2,200 Navy personnel and civilians, most of them members of the Navy's anti-submarine warfare program, will be transferred to Kaneohe's Marine Corps Base Hawaii. The Navy will retain 1,113 acres after that move for its personnel, who will remain in a housing complex.
This means the Navy will continue to run a medical center, the golf course and a 950-unit housing complex at Barbers, Bass said.
Some 450 acres will be turned over to other federal agencies, including 150 acres to be used by the Hawaii Army National Guard when it relocates from Diamond Head Crater.
Bass said the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will be given control of 220 acres to be used as habitats for endangered birds and plants.
Current estimates are that by the year 2020, nearly 4,000 people will be employed at various government and private firms at the former military base.
Cleaning up after the military is expected to go beyond the July conversion, with $25 million already spent in the environmental restoration process, said Bill Erwin, Barbers Point spokesman.
Another $25 million will be needed to complete the job, which includes cleaning up a carbine and pistol range and old coral pit used as a dump site.
Barbers Point one of
Star-Bulletin
97 bases to be closedThe Base Realignment and Closure Commission recommended shutting down Barbers Point Naval Air Station in June 1993.
The recommendation was reviewed and accepted by President Clinton and confirmed by the U.S. Senate in September 1993.
The Defense Department estimates that since 1988, 20 of the 97 bases slated for closure nationwide have successfully been converted to civilian use.
For the third time in three years, Clinton will ask Congress again this year to let the Pentagon close more bases. Two other tries were unsuccessful. Clinton wants the next round of closures to begin in 2001.
Last month, Defense Secretary William Cohen said three rounds of base closures since 1988 have resulted in $3.7 billion in savings, with $25 billion forecast through fiscal year 2003. Two additional rounds will ultimately save $20 billion and generate $3 billion annually.
At present, the military operates 328 major bases, about 15 percent too many, Cohen has said. The Air Force runs 67 major bases.
But base closings are a tough sell in Congress, where elected officials prize the jobs and other economic benefits military bases bring to their districts.
Hawaii's U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye, for one, is convinced more closings are a bad idea that will be rejected by Congress.
"I really don't see any bases in Hawaii that could be considered surplus, so I'm not saying this from a parochial viewpoint," Inouye, the senior Democrat on the U.S. Senate defense appropriations subcommittee, said last week.
"I'm not convinced it's necessary (to close bases) and I think it's a bad time to do so ... The economy is stable and moving along. Why mess with it? If you close a base, that's final, and these bases play a major role in communities all over the United States."
Inouye predicted Congress will wait at least another year before agreeing to more closures. "I don't see any bill being passed this year," he said.
In April the Pentagon estimated that some 45,000 new jobs have been created since military bases have come under civilian ownership.
That won't be the case at Barbers Point, which at one time employed about 4,500 civilians, said Bill Bass, executive director of the Barbers Point Naval Air Station Redevelopment Commission.
Barbers Point Naval Air Station
Various groups now occupy the Barbers Point station, which includes 3,700 acres and three runways. Current tenants are the Fleet Maritime Patrol Air Patrol, antisubmarine warfare squadrons, Coast Guard, Hawaii Air National Guard and Navy housing (1,090 units).A look at Barbers Point through the years:
