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HawaiiMongoose

Hawaii state government approves $400 million for Aloha Stadium replacement

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According to this morning’s Honolulu newspaper, the new biennial budget formally approved yesterday by the Hawaii legislature authorizes $350 million in bond funding for replacing Aloha Stadium. That’s the same amount approved a couple of years ago, before the pandemic caused the legislature to panic and cut the funding in half.

The governor said a couple of weeks ago that he supports moving ahead with the project, so his approval should be a formality.

Next the state’s Department of Accounting and General Services will issue the construction RFP (which is supposedly already written), and then we’ll see what the bidding development teams will commit to build for $350 million. My prediction: due to cost inflation during the two-year delay coupled with no increase to the funding amount, we’ll be lucky to get a 25K seat replacement stadium rather than the 35K originally planned (i.e. just half of Aloha Stadium’s 50K capacity). Hopefully I’m wrong and the winning bidder can do better.

In the meantime UH will continue to play on campus.  The university has said that Ching Field’s capacity will remain at 9K for 2022 but they’re committed to increasing it to 15K for 2023.

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On 5/4/2022 at 6:25 AM, HawaiiMongoose said:

According to this morning’s Honolulu newspaper, the new biennial budget formally approved yesterday by the Hawaii legislature authorizes $350 million in bond funding for replacing Aloha Stadium. That’s the same amount approved a couple of years ago, before the pandemic caused the legislature to panic and cut the funding in half.

The governor said a couple of weeks ago that he supports moving ahead with the project, so his approval should be a formality.

Next the state’s Department of Accounting and General Services will issue the construction RFP (which is supposedly already written), and then we’ll see what the bidding development teams will commit to build for $350 million. My prediction: due to cost inflation during the two-year delay coupled with no increase to the funding amount, we’ll be lucky to get a 25K seat replacement stadium rather than the 35K originally planned (i.e. just half of Aloha Stadium’s 50K capacity). Hopefully I’m wrong and the winning bidder can do better.

In the meantime UH will continue to play on campus.  The university has said that Ching Field’s capacity will remain at 9K for 2022 but they’re committed to increasing it to 15K for 2023.

15k ain’t bad. That’s basically Hosers capacity for the forceable future.  Idaho had a similar capacity before dropping down to FCS. At least you guys have a plan to build more. 

Fresno_State_Jim_Sweeny_Field_(_Bulldog_Stadium).jpg

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On 5/4/2022 at 6:25 AM, HawaiiMongoose said:

According to this morning’s Honolulu newspaper, the new biennial budget formally approved yesterday by the Hawaii legislature authorizes $350 million in bond funding for replacing Aloha Stadium. That’s the same amount approved a couple of years ago, before the pandemic caused the legislature to panic and cut the funding in half.

The governor said a couple of weeks ago that he supports moving ahead with the project, so his approval should be a formality.

Next the state’s Department of Accounting and General Services will issue the construction RFP (which is supposedly already written), and then we’ll see what the bidding development teams will commit to build for $350 million. My prediction: due to cost inflation during the two-year delay coupled with no increase to the funding amount, we’ll be lucky to get a 25K seat replacement stadium rather than the 35K originally planned (i.e. just half of Aloha Stadium’s 50K capacity). Hopefully I’m wrong and the winning bidder can do better.

In the meantime UH will continue to play on campus.  The university has said that Ching Field’s capacity will remain at 9K for 2022 but they’re committed to increasing it to 15K for 2023.

Good to see the project getting going.  I think 35k for $350mm is achievable.  SDSU's stadium is 35k+ for $310mm.

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On 5/4/2022 at 6:25 AM, HawaiiMongoose said:

According to this morning’s Honolulu newspaper, the new biennial budget formally approved yesterday by the Hawaii legislature authorizes $350 million in bond funding for replacing Aloha Stadium. That’s the same amount approved a couple of years ago, before the pandemic caused the legislature to panic and cut the funding in half.

The governor said a couple of weeks ago that he supports moving ahead with the project, so his approval should be a formality.

Next the state’s Department of Accounting and General Services will issue the construction RFP (which is supposedly already written), and then we’ll see what the bidding development teams will commit to build for $350 million. My prediction: due to cost inflation during the two-year delay coupled with no increase to the funding amount, we’ll be lucky to get a 25K seat replacement stadium rather than the 35K originally planned (i.e. just half of Aloha Stadium’s 50K capacity). Hopefully I’m wrong and the winning bidder can do better.

In the meantime UH will continue to play on campus.  The university has said that Ching Field’s capacity will remain at 9K for 2022 but they’re committed to increasing it to 15K for 2023.

SDSU's 35K stadium is around $350mil. It's about as high-end as you get in college football with multiple premium spaces, all chair backs, 2 video boards  etc.

Time is money when it comes to projects like this.  The sooner you get a shovel in the ground, the more value you'll get.

“Science is the belief in the ignorance of experts.”

-Richard Feynman

"When buying and selling are controlled by legislation, the first things to be bought and sold are legislators."

-P.J. O’Rourke

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On 5/4/2022 at 7:02 AM, SDSUfan said:

Time is money when it comes to projects like this.  The sooner you get a shovel in the ground, the more value you'll get.

Exactly right, which is why the two-year fumble by the legislature and governor is so frustrating.  They knew as soon as Aloha Stadium was shut down that they had no alternative to replacing it, but elected to kick the can down the road anyhow.  It was short-sighted and stupid and the taxpayers footing the bill will get less value as a consequence.

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On 5/4/2022 at 10:42 AM, HawaiiMongoose said:

Exactly right, which is why the two-year fumble by the legislature and governor is so frustrating.  They knew as soon as Aloha Stadium was shut down that they had no alternative to replacing it, but elected to kick the can down the road anyhow.  It was short-sighted and stupid and the taxpayers footing the bill will get less value as a consequence.

Have they razed Aloha Stadium or is it still standing as an eyesore?

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On 5/4/2022 at 7:42 AM, HawaiiMongoose said:

Exactly right, which is why the two-year fumble by the legislature and governor is so frustrating.  They knew as soon as Aloha Stadium was shut down that they had no alternative to replacing it, but elected to kick the can down the road anyhow.  It was short-sighted and stupid and the taxpayers footing the bill will get less value as a consequence.

It was a paperwork snafu if I remember right.  It was funded two years ago but the bill had a wording mistake that prevented the funding from being spent.  Problem was the legislature did not go back and fix the error in the last days of the session.

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On 5/4/2022 at 8:45 AM, aztech said:

Have they razed Aloha Stadium or is it still standing as an eyesore?

Still standing.  The $350 million is also supposed to cover the cost of demolition, which is another reason why I'm concerned about what the developer will actually be able to deliver within that cost constraint.

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On 5/4/2022 at 8:52 AM, Billings said:

It was a paperwork snafu if I remember right.  It was funded two years ago but the bill had a wording mistake that prevented the funding from being spent.  Problem was the legislature did not go back and fix the error in the last days of the session.

That was the first problem and delayed the project a year.

Then it was delayed another year when the funding scheme was changed from state bond financing to a public-private partnership in which the legislature cut the bond financing in half and somehow expected a developer to be willing to cover the other half of the cost in exchange for... ??  I'm not sure what.  The governor exacerbated the problem by sitting on the sideline and not saying much except that the state was facing big financial challenges.

Since then the pandemic has subsided, Hawaii tourism is booming, and the state has found itself flush with cash thanks to federal Covid assistance and higher-than-expected tax revenue.  That emboldened DAGS to go back to the legislature and say if you want a stadium you have to fund a stadium, not half a stadium.  Also the governor finally got off his backside and went on record a few weeks ago saying he supports the project.  That was enough to prompt the legislature to restore full funding in this session.

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On 5/4/2022 at 8:12 AM, TheTedfordTrain said:

15k ain’t bad. That’s basically Hosers capacity for the forceable future.  Idaho had a similar capacity before dropping down to FCS. At least you guys have a plan to build more. 

You're all us Hosers need for the foreseeable future, Al. We can always count on you to hype up SJS Athletics. Expansion thread? "Oh let me tell you the latest abt SJS!" UH's new stadium? "Did you guys know SJS is building new facilities too?!"

We shd commemorate you somehow at the new SAC. Do you still have your runner up trophy from the troll derby?

 

ezgif-5-959914ff2250.gif.f0cc4fc558f5a154dc6ff5904c80bf34.gif

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Latest progress video.

 

“Science is the belief in the ignorance of experts.”

-Richard Feynman

"When buying and selling are controlled by legislation, the first things to be bought and sold are legislators."

-P.J. O’Rourke

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On 5/4/2022 at 12:56 PM, HawaiiMongoose said:

Still standing.  The $350 million is also supposed to cover the cost of demolition, which is another reason why I'm concerned about what the developer will actually be able to deliver within that cost constraint.

That's crazy.  It's penny wise, pound foolish.  It has to be demolished anyway, no matter what that space would be used for.   

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I remember when June Jones complained about lack of support and his players complained about lack of functioning soap dispensers in the locker room.  Jones left in January 2008 for SMU of all places, at the exact same time that Hawaii lost their entire offensive unit.  It's good that Hawaii is finally doing something, but I wonder why it took more than a decade after Jones' departure for Hawaii to finally do something to improve their situation.  I'm aware that COVID delayed things, but COVID still occurred more than a decade after Jones left.

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On 5/4/2022 at 4:00 PM, HawaiiMongoose said:

That was the first problem and delayed the project a year.

Then it was delayed another year when the funding scheme was changed from state bond financing to a public-private partnership in which the legislature cut the bond financing in half and somehow expected a developer to be willing to cover the other half of the cost in exchange for... ??  I'm not sure what.  The governor exacerbated the problem by sitting on the sideline and not saying much except that the state was facing big financial challenges.

Since then the pandemic has subsided, Hawaii tourism is booming, and the state has found itself flush with cash thanks to federal Covid assistance and higher-than-expected tax revenue.  That emboldened DAGS to go back to the legislature and say if you want a stadium you have to fund a stadium, not half a stadium.  Also the governor finally got off his backside and went on record a few weeks ago saying he supports the project.  That was enough to prompt the legislature to restore full funding in this session.

Sounds like you have all liberals in your state government.

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Congrats on getting the funding restored. Hope you guys have sone great new digs. And that the locals fill it up.

What's the estimated time of completion once they get shovels in the ground ?

"We don't have evidence but, we have lot's of theories."

Americans Mayor

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