UH gears up to Construction should begin on the University of Hawaii's new Health and Wellness Center in Kakaako within a year now that the Legislature has approved use of tobacco funds to build it, said UH President Evan Dobelle.
build medical center
Construction on the new
Kakaako facility is expected
to get started within a yearBy Treena Shapiro
tshapiro@starbulletin.com
The medical complex will include the John A. Burns School of Medicine, the Cancer Research Center of Hawaii and a new Pacific Biomedical Research Center. Once the medical school has been relocated, the vacated building on the Manoa campus will be refurbished into a biomedical sciences center.
Dobelle had proposed the $300 million center as a way to stimulate the state's sagging economy during the special session of the legislature.
The state will sell $150 million in revenue bonds, to be repaid by tobacco funds, to cover half the costs, and the university will match the $150 million with private fund-raising, Dobelle said.
"Higher education is big business and as Hawaii seeks an identity beyond tourism, education is one of the best options for our islands," he said yesterday at a press conference near the almost 10-acre medical center site, currently occupied by the Department of Agriculture and a food distribution center.
"The center is a long-term investment in Hawaii's future and it will have short-term impact as well," Dobelle said, noting that it would increase the quality of education, research and access to quality health care in the state.
Fund-raising for the university's share of the cost will begin immediately, Dobelle said. "We will start tomorrow morning in Los Angeles and in Palm Springs working with foundations of philanthropy, federal governments and other opportunities throughout the mainland and through Asia to raise $150 million."
So far, he said, no one has committed to any contributions, but there has been "goodwill" from foundations he has spoken with on the mainland and in Hawaii.Dobelle said that the university will not turn to the Legislature if its fund-raising falls short.
"I'm not a bailout guy. The Legislature has done their part. They have given us what we asked. We now have a responsibility to (do our part)."
Dobelle said he anticipates the center will be completed in three years.
"We will be in the ground in a year," he said. "Obviously we'd like to be in the ground in six months because a lot of this is to jump-start the economy. Although the goal is within a year, my hope is within six months."
The Department of Agriculture will not vacate its buildings until Sept. 1, 2002, when it will move its plant quarantine facility, quality assurance branch and measurement standards branch to four acres of state land at the Kapalama Military Reservation.
The Legislature has already appropriated $14 million for the move, according to agriculture spokeswoman Janelle Saneishi.
Jan Yokota, executive director of the Hawaii Community Development Authority, the area's landowner, said the state is still negotiating with the Produce Market to end its long-term lease.
UH John A. Burns School of Medicine
