Plans for arts center
in Mililani go forward
A Mililani contractor and other area residents are moving forward with plans to build a fine-arts center in Central Oahu.
"We're trying to promote the arts as an integral part of the community and family of life for all generations to come," said Edmund Aczon, president of the nonprofit organization Oahu Arts Center.
When Aczon and his family moved to Mililani from Waipio Gentry in 1989, he said he noticed that there was nowhere to go to watch a play or a music show.
"We go all the way to Diamond Head Theatre, Neal Blaisdell Center or seasonal art exhibits. There's nothing like that in the Central Oahu area with the exception of Leeward Community College," Aczon said.
He and a small group of Mililani residents got together to create a fine-arts center for Central Oahu residents to help broaden the lives of area children and senior citizens, he said. Since then they have gained support from City Council members, legislators and neighborhood boards to create the center.
Castle & Cooke Hawaii has donated three acres near Mililani Mauka Middle School for the center, said Alan Arakawa, vice president of development and construction.
In October 2001 the city awarded the nonprofit organization a $100,000 city grant to create a business, fund-raising and conceptual plan for the fine-arts center. The structure may be split in two phases: an arts education center and a performing-arts auditorium.
Aczon, a former president of the Building Industry Association, said students do better in math and problem solving if they are exposed to arts and music.
Construction costs are estimated between $20 million and $22 million. Aczon and his group hope to start construction in 2007.