Stadium study funds extended

The Aloha Stadium Authority Thursday authorized spending $155,000 to continue the process of determining the future of the 50,000-seat facility.

The funds, which were approved by a 7-0 vote, will allow the planned eight-phase study to complete Phase 3 and proceed through phases 4 through 6. That is scheduled to take the process into early 2015, the panel was told by the state Department of Accounting and General Services.

Foley & Lardner, a New York-based law firm, is conducting the study for the state, which seeks to determine whether to build a new stadium or renovate the current one, which has been in operation since 1975.

The new expenditures, in addition to an initially approved outlay of $250,000, will take the total up to $405,000, officials said.

Phase 3, which is currently underway, involves composing and issuing a request for information from the public and businesses. Chris Kinimaka, DAGS Planning Branch, DAGS CIP Section head, told the board that is expected to be completed by the end of September. "We’re actually working on finalizing that now," Kinimaka said.

Phase 4 is the evaluation of the RFI responses. Phase 5 is issuing a request for proposal while Phase 6 is an evaluation of the RFP responses.

Up to Phase 6, there is no commitment to build anything, officials said.

DAGS has previously estimated that $120 million in "high priority health and safety improvements are needed to keep the stadium operational for the next five to 10 years," according to a Foley & Lardner report.

A June 26 report to the authority by Foley & Lardner recommended a "30,000-35,000-seat stadium on the lower portion of the (current) stadium site" for $132 million to $192 million.

A separate report by a California firm commissioned by UH conceptualized a 30,585-seat multipurpose facility for $165 million to $190 million. It was not site specific.