Feds allot $29M
for new buildingThe new offices would centralize
NOAA units and provide $40M
in isle construction jobs
Federal officials visited potential sites on Oahu this week for a new 400,000-square-foot building to house the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
NOAA workers, including the National Weather Service and National Marine Fisheries Service, are scattered over the island in at least 12 locations, most of them rented, said William Broglie, the Washington, D.C., official in charge of building projects for NOAA.
The proposed building -- about one-fourth the size of Ala Moana Center -- would house many of the 260 NOAA employees on Oahu, with room to add up to 190 workers within 10 years.
Honolulu has the fourth-largest concentration of NOAA employees in the country, behind Washington, D.C., Seattle and Boulder, Colo.
Broglie and other NOAA officials visited "five or six" potential sites for the new center, he said yesterday.
Broglie wouldn't specify the sites, other than to say they are "downtown, west and inland." He said a short list of contenders may be made public in a few months.
NOAA would like to have its new facility on or near the ocean, to be near its research vessels, Broglie said, but that may not be possible. Broglie said the building would likely be multistory, with its height dependent upon zoning requirements. Broglie wouldn't say what the total cost would be, but said the federal government is planning to lease the land and build the building. The agency has $29 million available for planning, design and early construction, Broglie said.
The agency is hoping to complete an environmental impact study on its top sites in 2004-2005, with construction to begin in late 2005 or early 2006, Broglie said.
A NOAA study estimated the project would provide $40 million in construction-related jobs over two years.
Daniel Dinell, executive director of the Hawaii Community Development Association, which guides development of state land in Kakaako and at Kalaeloa, confirmed yesterday that his agency met with NOAA about its plans, but wouldn't say which location was discussed.
A spokeswoman for the Campbell Estate confirmed that NOAA has looked at Campbell Industrial Park and other estate properties in Kapolei in recent months, but wouldn't say yesterday whether they were still in the running.
The state showed NOAA 45 acres on Sand Island, next to the city's wastewater treatment plant, but was told yesterday the site probably is not a contender, said Peter Young, director of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources.
At least two NOAA agencies would remain where they are -- the Tsunami Warning Center in Ewa Beach and the National Weather Service forecasting office on the UH campus, said Bill Thomas, a Honolulu-based NOAA official working on the project.
Jeffrey Polovina, acting director of the Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, said yesterday he doesn't have an opinion on where the new facility should be built, but he knows it's needed.
Polovina's lab employs the largest group of NOAA employees on Oahu, conducting research that aids fisheries management and protection of endangered species. Ninety people work at a 56-year-old building on the University of Hawaii campus that's riddled with termites and leaks. An additional 40 work in trailers at Kewalo Basin.
"With the growth of the center, we could hire 20 people immediately," Polovina said. "But we're holding off on hiring new positions because we don't have space."
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NOAA and its agencies
What is NOAA?
at a glanceThe National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration includes the following agencies on Oahu:
National Weather Service offices:
>> The Pacific Regional Headquarters oversees all National Weather Service operations in Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam and Micronesia. www.prh.noaa.gov
>> The Honolulu Forecast Office provides all daily forecasts, meteorologic and hydrologic data for Hawaii, plus aviation and marine forecasts for an area of the Pacific four times the size of the continental United States. www.prh.noaa.gov/hnl
>> The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, in Ewa Beach, detects earthquakes in the Pacific Basin and issues warnings if they generate tidal waves. www.prh.noaa.gov/ptwc
National Ocean Service offices:
>> The NOAA Pacific Services Center provides information, technology and training for coastal management in Hawaii and the Pacific. www.csc.noaa.gov/psc
>> The Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services maintains tide stations that provide data on sea level trends in the Hawaiian Islands. www.co-ops.nos.noaa.gov
>> The Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary, with headquarters on Maui and satellite offices in Hawaii Kai and on Kauai, oversees Hawaiian waters where endangered Pacific humpback whales reproduce and raise their young. www.sanctuaries.nos.noaa.gov/oms/omshawaii/omshawaii.html
>> The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve, with offices in Hawaii Kai and Hilo, oversees the nation's largest marine protected area. www.hawaiireef.noaa.gov
Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research programs:
>> Joint Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research, in collaboration with the University of Hawaii, conducts research on oceanography, climate and global change, including the El Nino phenomenon. ilikai.soest.hawaii.edu/JIMAR/
>> Hawaii Undersea Research Laboratory, a NOAA/UH partnership, studies deep water marine processes. www.soest.hawaii.edu/HURL
>> University of Hawaii Sea Grant College Program, conducts research and extension projects in a variety of areas. www.soest.hawaii.edu/SEAGRANT
National Marine Fisheries Service offices:
>> Pacific Islands Regional Office oversees fishery programs in Hawaii and the Pacific. swr.nmfs.noaa.gov/pir/index.htm
>> Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, at UH-Manoa and Kewalo Basin, conducts research on coral reefs, fish and fisheries, and protected species. www.nmfs.hawaii.edu
>> NOAA Marine and Aviations Operations, at Snug Harbor, Sand Island, manages the Pacific's two research vessels, the Ka'Imimoana and Oscar Sette. www.moc.noaa.gov/ka/index.html
