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Aiea residents
still aim to save
sugar-mill land

The vision team is looking
for private funding to buy
a portion of the land

By Wilma Jandoc
Star-Bulletin

The Aiea Sugar Mill may be gone, but residents haven't given up on saving the land.

Plans to turn the former mill site into a town center hit a snag three weeks ago when Gov. Ben Cayetano vetoed $2.9 million to buy some of the land.

The Aiea/Pearl City vision team wanted the land for a new Aiea Public Library. The current library at 99-143 Moanalua Road is in need of renovation, according to a 1999 state feasibility study.

Claire Tamamoto, a member of the vision team, said she was speechless when she first heard of the veto. "I'm very hurt because I feel our community worked hard to raise the issue of the merits of moving the library to the old mill site," she said.

"It (the library) has limited parking and is undersized for the community," said Tamamoto, who has lived in Aiea almost continuously since she was 2 years old. "The library hasn't grown. It's the same library I grew up with, but the community has grown."

Vision team member Gary Okino said: "It's something the community wanted. Even if we could put it back in the next legislative session, the land might be gone."

Cayetano said while he understands the community's desire for a new library, "The area is already well-served by libraries. While libraries are important, the Aiea community has other libraries within easy distance, and we have needs for libraries in other places, Kapolei for instance."

Crazy Shirts Hawaii bought the 19 acres in 1994, intending to turn the site into its corporate headquarters. The plan was abandoned because of high renovation costs.

The mill was razed in 1998 and the site divided into 15 parcels for sale, one of which is being rezoned for residential use, said Joel Criz, project sales coordinator for Crazy Shirts.

In May, the city allotted $9 million to buy nine parcels, totaling about 6.5 acres. The land will be used for a community center and elderly housing.

A church is interested in the four-acre residential lot, and the state was to have bought the remaining five parcels, totaling about 1.65 acres.

The Hawaii Agricultural Research Center is also located on three acres of the site.

"It's not just about building the library anymore," said Okino, a 28-year Aiea resident. "It's to save it (the land) from being industrial because now it's going to be right by the community center. It makes less sense to have industrial there."

The city needs to complete an environmental assessment before purchasing the land. The next step is to find a consultant for master planning of the town center.

Okino said the vision team is looking at funding from private and nonprofit groups to purchase the parcel. The team is also considering other uses for the land. Suggestions include a police substation, a day-care center and an expansion of the proposed elderly housing.