The University of Hawaii did the right thing by tapping the brakes on the Daniel K. Inouye Center, especially given that one regent has asked fellow board members to consider freezing new construction throughout the college system.

The late senator’s family and former chief of staff asked the Board of Regents to slow down on the center, initially expedited at a proposed cost of $27.5 million, amid criticism that the project was being rushed through without enough public input. The board’s assent to this request was correct and also inevitable.

Inouye, who died last December, was a master of the U.S. Senate for whom a home-state library is richly deserved. Such a facility, envisioned as an archive for the Hawaii Democrat’s congressional papers and as a locus for educational and community outreach, would surely inspire current and future generations. Early plans for the institute included initiatives supporting K-12 STEM education, civics instruction and international educational and cultural exchanges, programs that Inouye, a proud graduate of McKinley High School, would surely applaud.

The problem with the proposed public-private partnership was the swiftness with which it was being implemented, without enough information shared broadly about the budgeting details. There were serious questions not only about the cost of construction but also about how much the center would cost to sustain — and who would pay for that — after it opened.

On Thursday, the Board of Regents approved the university’s request to seek $5 million in state bond financing, a large enough figure to signal the strong government support the project needs to also attract private donors, but significantly less than the $15 million first proposed. The original plan to seek $10 million in federal funds was dropped altogether, for now.

Jennifer Sabas, Inouye’s former chief of staff, and his widow, Irene, and son, Ken, who sought the go-slower strategy, were present at Thursday’s meeting in a show of support. It’s understandable that they might feel stung by the critical reaction the proposed center received in some quarters, especially given the millions upon millions of federal dollars that Inouye flowed into Hawaii’s coffers over the years. But they also recognize that fiscal transparency, rather than speed, will serve the senator’s legacy better in the end, and be more likely to attract the outside donors this project needs in order to be a world-class facility.

The need for accountability is especially acute when the Inouye Center is viewed in the broader context of the UH system, which has a repair and maintenance backlog so large that the regents are considering freezing new construction throughout the university system. Such an "interim, self-imposed moratorium" on new construction, with limited exceptions, would divert necessary attention to resolving the backlog, says Regent Benjamin Kudo. His proposal will be open to public input at a committee meeting, and the full board may consider it in late November.

It’s too early to predict whether the board will ultimately take such a drastic step — but that members are even considering freezing other new projects makes the slowdown on the Inouye Center the only prudent step.