When it comes to a new stadium, Hawaii can take a lesson from Colorado State

There figures to be plenty learned from the University of Hawaii football team’s season opener Saturday at Colorado State and, if we’re smart, maybe not all of it from what’s on the field.

Hopefully something from the stadium itself.

In its first visit to the Rams’ year-old Canvas Stadium, UH will see a 36,500-seat (41,000 capacity) facility that is just about everything the Rainbow Warriors could wish for in a modern home, including some sections of green seats.

Except, of course, it isn’t at “home” in Halawa or Manoa.

It is on the southern edge of campus in Fort Collins, Colo., across the street from CSU’s Art Department and some dorms. So close to campus life, linebacker Josh Watson says, “students ride their bikes and skateboards to the stadium,” which helped attract an average of 32,062 per game in its inaugural season.

But what has made the stadium truly remarkable — and instructive for others, such as our state, considering future investment in stadiums — is that it was completed on time, on budget, without university, state or student funds, and it turned an operational profit its first year.

According to a report presented to CSU’s Board of Governors this month and furnished to the Star-Advertiser, revenue exceeded operational costs by approximately $4.6 million. That allowed the athletic department to set aside $3 million for stadium reserve funding and return $500,000 to the school for academic purposes. It also made available $1.1 million to the athletic department budget for help in hiring a men’s basketball coach and buying out his predecessor.

Faced with a $30 million tab in deferred maintenance and other issues on Hughes Stadium, a facility nearing the half-century mark, CSU came up with and has, so far, successfully executed a bold vision.

The $220 million price tag for construction of the football portion of the stadium (an additional $18 million for classrooms and alumni center, etc. is paid by the university) has been underwritten by bonds “backed by private donations and paid annually by expected stadium revenue sources,” a CSU spokesman said.

Revenue sources that include a $37.7 million, 15-year agreement with the Canvas Credit Union for stadium naming rights and a $20 million gift commitment to designate the playing surface “Sonny Lubick Field,” honoring the Rams’ coach from 1993 to 2007.

In addition, there is a deal said to be valued at $5 million with area craft brewer New Belgian for a beer “porch” and a field club sponsored by Orthopaedic &Spine Center of the Rockies.

A major reason for replacing Hughes Stadium, CSU athletic director Joe Parker said, was the opportunity to open a campus portal to alumni and fans.

“We try to think a lot about how to engage stakeholders, and the stadium serves as the university’s primary engagement asset. That’s what it was designed to do,” Parker said in an email. “We’ve seen it, over the last year, do just that with the games we’ve hosted in football, with the FORTitude 10K, with all of the event activities that are going on throughout the week, year-round.”

Unlike, Hughes Stadium, 4 miles out of town in the foothills, Canvas Stadium has been a magnet to bring people back to campus. Parker said, “We think a lot about Denver. We have 60,000 alumni in the seven counties that represent the Denver metro area. …”

Parker said, “Those who have attended games in the past would often drive from Denver to Hughes Stadium and return to Denver without having set foot on campus. Now they are spending the day on campus and re-engaging with the university.”

As our state ponders the future of the rusting relic that is 44-year-old Aloha Stadium and the financial sieve it has become, you hope officials here will take note of what CSU, one of UH’s peers, has so far been able to accomplish.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.