UH weighs options as
dormitories show age
The University of Hawaii is planning to reopen the Gateway House dorm this fall as housing officials look at privatizing dorms and other options to fix aging facilities.
Electrical problems forced UH-Manoa to shut down the 10-story, twin-tower Gateway House on Jan. 13 and find other living arrangements for 220 students and staff.
Margit Watts, interim director for student housing, said the university has ordered a new electrical transformer at a cost of about $65,000 and is studying what other electrical improvements are needed to reopen the dorm.
The university had considered shutting Gateway completely as it did with Frear Hall next door, which may be torn down and replaced. However, "we need to have those beds (at Gateway) back for a while," Watts said.
The university also received several proposals to provide 500 beds in a Waikiki hotel or other building that could be turned into a temporary dorm for up to five years.
The university runs 10 dorms on the Manoa campus. The first dorms were constructed in the 1950s and the newest dorm is more than 25 years old.
The dorms still open are safe, said UH-Manoa spokesman Jim Manke. However, the buildings are suffering from age and neglect.
University officials estimate that about $34 million in deferred maintenance is needed. The additional cost to renovate the dorms is still being determined. They are hoping that contracting for additional beds off campus will allow some dorms to be shut down and renovated over the next several years.
Watts said the university has also received unsolicited proposals from local contractors and mainland developers to build private dorms that could be leased back to UH.
The off-campus housing and privatization proposals will be discussed at the next Board of Regents meeting in mid-February, Watts said.
She said students who opt to live in off-campus dorms in Waikiki will likely have to pay higher fees than on-campus housing.
She said there are no plans to raise student housing fees until 2006, when the last of previously approved increases takes effect.
"There's a point where raising the fees is not going to be a bad thing, but we've got to be able to offer the student something in return," Watts said.