[ OUR OPINION ]
OHA’s acquisition of pumping
station would be a good fitTHE old sewage pumping station in Kakaako has found another suitor in the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. The agency's interest in using the historic structure and developing its 3.2 acres is well placed, since the site is ceded land and would possibly generate income for OHA.
THE ISSUE The agency wants to buy or lease the old Kakaako station for its headquarters and to develop a commercial complex.
OHA's effort to lease or buy the station, which was built in 1900, would re-establish a focal point for the district that is on the verge of major improvements, with several state and private groups planning to build facilities there. OHA hopes to put up an office and commercial complex to lease space to other entities, as well as for its own headquarters.
OHA has outgrown its present offices in downtown Honolulu but has remained there despite its lease expiring in February 2001. Two years ago, OHA considered buying the post office building across from Iolani Palace, but squabbling among trustees quashed that idea and now the state has its own plans to purchase that structure.
The agency is the latest in a string of groups interested in the pumping station, a picturesque bluestone structure with arched windows and a 80-foot-high tower that has been unused since 1955. In 1997, the Hawaii Community Development Authority, which directs development in Kakaako, chose from among three proposals a plan for a restaurant and microbrewery there. However, that project fell through.
A year earlier, the Historic Hawaii Foundation had proposed to restore the building for use as its office and as a Hawaiian heritage and education center. That venture was scuttled after OHA protested a 50-year lease of the property because the $1 annual payment the authority had approved would bring in about 20 cents a year in ceded land revenue.
OHA's taking the reins would serve its interests. It could increase revenues and find a permanent home. There are hurdles. The agency must put together a proposal quickly if it hopes to begin seeking the authority's approval in September, as scheduled. Further, its plans must adhere to federal and state guidelines for historic buildings.
Judging from past experience, a bigger obstacle may be the inability of OHA's trustees to reach a consensus, as happened with the post office building. Although most of the board appears to support the current project, one member is balking at spending $75,000 to hire a consultant to put together plans.
The pumping station could be an attractive element in the renewal of Kakaako and, if successful, the project would show that OHA has the wherewithal to command at least part of its financial future.
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New chancellor key in
UH’s pivotal timesThe University of Hawaii welcomes the newest member of President Evan Dobelle's team in Peter Englert, who will take the important post of chancellor of the Manoa campus in August. Englert's range of experience in academics and research and his familiarity with the Pacific region will serve him well in his new job.
THE ISSUE For the first time since 1986, the Manoa campus has its own chancellor.
As the first permanent chancellor for the Manoa campus since 1986, when the position was folded into the university presidency, Englert will free Dobelle to direct UH from a broader perspective as Dobelle aims to elevate the institution's other facilities.
Englert, who comes to Hawaii from Victoria University in New Zealand, bears sterling credentials in education and management. His extensive background in science coupled with a strong interest in the humanities and a regard for Pacific cultures point to a rounded individual, ready to deal with a multifaceted community of scholarship.
He'll have a rough row to hoe. The Manoa campus, at times, has been a tumult of conflict, but Dobelle appears to have laid a groundwork of consensus on which Englert may build.
We wish him luck and success in a significant moment for the university system.
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Published by Oahu Publications Inc., a subsidiary of Black Press.Don Kendall, Publisher
Frank Bridgewater, Editor 529-4791; fbridgewater@starbulletin.com
Michael Rovner, Assistant Editor 529-4768; mrovner@starbulletin.com
Lucy Young-Oda, Assistant Editor 529-4762; lyoungoda@starbulletin.comMary Poole, Editorial Page Editor, 529-4790; mpoole@starbulletin.com
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