City prefers
Kapolei for new
UH campus

The new West Oahu site
could be built on land
mauka of the H-1

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By Pat Omandam
pomandam@starbulletin.com

If the city administration had its way, the University of Hawaii-West Oahu would be built in the heart of the city of Kapolei and not alongside a hill east of Makakilo that overlooks the H-1 freeway

City Planning Director Randy Fujiki told a panel of UH officials, legislators, developers and others yesterday the Harris administration favors a permanent college campus in downtown Kapolei because it allows the university to assume greater roles and relationships with the so-called second city.

For example, Fujiki said, the new UH-West Oahu campus is an ideal counterpoint to the Kapolei Regional Library now under construction, and the two could create a dynamic partnership.

Also, downtown Kapolei already has the infrastructure for the new campus, as compared to the slated barren and undeveloped site mauka of the H-1 freeway.Currently, the university is located in portable buildings set on the grounds of Leeward Community College.

Exactly where the permanent campus will end up will be known in two months, when UH President Evan Dobelle unveils his plans for the systemwide physical growth of UH at its November meeting on Kauai.

Such a plan would give regents and UH officials a chance to integrate the growth of each campus, as well as give them estimates on how much it may cost.

Dobelle, who asked legislators to organize yesterday's informational briefing on UH-West Oahu, said he understands the importance West Oahu has for the surrounding communities and reassured everyone a permanent home is a reality.

"We need to have it built," he said.

The new campus must be built no matter what, say state education officials.

Leeward Superintendent Hazel Sumile told the panel the dramatic growth of new elementary schools in the Leeward area -- five built in the last eight years and four more scheduled by 2006 -- will mean a demand for higher education down the road.

While Leeward Community College has been a good partner, the area needs the new four-year university campus to help train teachers, as well as help students avoid long commutes to the Manoa campus, which some students fear, she said.

Under a current agreement with Campbell Estate, the state received 941 hillside acres from the estate mauka of the H-1 freeway in exchange for the 59-acre Hawaii Raceway Park. The new West Oahu campus would use a portion of the site.