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An eager Andrew Mizumoto was among the first to arrive at this morning's opening of the 100,000- square-foot Kapolei civic center. New civic center
opens in KapoleiBy Gordon Y.K. Pang
Star Bulletin"Now that they have a satellite city hall here I don't have to go downtown to get a (disabled) parking permit," Mizumoto said.
Dubbed Kapolei Hale in tribute to the century-old Honolulu Hale downtown, the center opened for business today. The first-floor offices encompass a satellite city hall, a driver licensing office and a one-stop permit section.
Brad Vanterpool, a customer service representative, said he's happy to be one of the first 19 city employees to be working out of Kapolei Hale. "People out here have been waiting for this for a long time," said Vanterpool, a Kapolei resident since 1990.
Mayor Jeremy Harris has yet to announce what other agencies will have a presence in the building at 1000 Uluohia Street, next to the state office building and near the Kapolei theater complex.
But Customer Services Director Carol Costa said a driver's licensing examiner from Kaneohe remarked how he was able to get to work in Kapolei in 20 minutes, less time than it took him to get to the City Square licensing facility in Kapalama.
The cost of the building was put at $19.8 million. The furnishings added an additional $2 million to $2.5 million, City Managing Director Ben Lee said. The 22-acre site was donated by Campbell Estate, the master developer for Kapolei.
The H-shaped building is reflective of the turn-of-the-century style architecture seen elsewhere in Kapolei.
Harris first unveiled plans for the civic center in October 1996. At the time, the mayor hoped the building would be available by early 2000. But construction was delayed when cement in the courtyard began to crack.