CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARBULLETIN.COM The Hawaii Pacific University administrative building, shown here last week, was completed in 1971. Due to inadequate waste-water facilities, the college has not been able to add additional buildings to the campus and has dealt with space constraints by renovating the interior rooms of the building.

HPU’s future
lies in Kaneohe

A campus official expects in
time to see most courses
on the Windward side

---

By Treena Shapiro
tshapiro@starbulletin.com

Hawaii Pacific University's 135-acre Kaneohe campus should triple in size over the next 10 or 15 years, says E. Rick Stepien, vice president of administration.

Today, about half of HPU's 9,000 students attend classes at the private university's downtown campus, while a quarter attend classes in Kaneohe and the remainder on the military bases.

In time, Stepien expects most of the courses to be offered on the 135-acre campus the university acquired from Hawaii Loa College 10 years ago next month.

"Basically, I think the future of HPU is out here," Stepien said last week at the Kaneohe campus.

Growth will not be possible until the campus is connected to the city's sewer line, however, a move that has been hampered first by a city moratorium on connecting to its system and then by an inadequate pipe.

The university's own waste-water treatment system has just about reached its capacity, and aside from a large maintenance shed, no buildings have been added to the campus in the past decade.

"It's been a limiting factor," Stepien said as he showed off a three-story building that was originally intended to be a stand-alone library but instead is used to house offices, classrooms, laboratories and just about everything else on the campus.

Instead of expanding, the university has dedicated itself to improving the existing facilities, initially spending $7 million "just to get the place back up to decent condition," and since then making additions, like new computer, faculty and nursing labs that will be constructed this summer, Stepien said.

Down a winding road, a cluster of six residence halls that house 212 students and a dining commons building make up the remainder of campus buildings.

"There's plenty of room to expand," Stepien said, a point made abundantly clear by huge expanses of grass, in addition to the ones that are marked off for soccer and softball fields.

Past the residence halls is the small waste-water treatment system, shielded by shrubbery. "Unglamorous as it is, this is the lifeblood of this campus," Stepien said.

"We've been shackled by not being able to connect with the sewers," he said. "We haven't been able to do much."

HPU is $1 million away from raising $2.85 million to connect to the city's sewer system.

While the application to connect is still pending, the project is expected to be completed in 24 to 36 months, about the same time as HPU's strategic planning process, Stepien said.

Once the campus is able to expand, "I would say the preponderance (of classes) would be offered here," Stepien said.

However, he added, HPU will always maintain a presence downtown, where it is convenient for professionals to take classes after work and for students to connect with the business community, Stepien said. "It's just a matter of what the scope would be."