Kapaa will finally get its own stadium

Volunteers are the key in building the 3,000-seat facility

KAPAA, Kauai » Kapaa High School will finally have a real home football game this year thanks to a huge volunteer effort, Kauai Mayor Bryan Baptiste has announced.

Calling the project "something the (Kapaa) district has wanted for years," Baptiste said Friday that the new football and soccer stadium, with seating for 3,000, will be built using existing fields at the Kapaa New Town Park.

Work on the nearly $1.3 million facility is under way, with the funding coming from a bond sale and a grant from the county park trust fund.

Most of the work will be done by volunteers, and local irrigation, design and construction businesses are also donating their services.

"This is really a community project," the mayor said. "If it weren't for the volunteers, we wouldn't be able to do it."

Baptiste has yet to talk with the Kauai Interscholastic Federation, but he'd like to see a home game there, possibly for homecoming, in October.

While the locker rooms won't be finished, Baptiste said a local armory could be used for facilities.

If all goes according to plan, the entire project would be completed in 2007, in time for the winter high school soccer season.

For years, Kapaa High School has shared the 5,000-seat Vidinha Stadium in Lihue with Kauai High School as a home field. The 3,000-seat Hanapepe Stadium serves as Waimea High School's home field.