UH-Manoa sees building boom

Huge cranes dominate the skyline of the University of Hawaii at Manoa this summer as the campus undergoes $137.5 million worth of construction and renovation.

Chief among the projects is a $42 million Information Technology Center, a six-story, 74,000-square-foot building that will house a state-of-the-art and energy-efficient data center. The center will also hold the university’s first emergency situation room, an outgrowth of the October 2004 flood that badly damaged several facilities and harmed the basement collections at Hamilton Library.

"The University of Hawaii learned many lessons from the 2004 flood that caused extensive damage to the Manoa campus and threatened our main data center, which provides Internet access for all UH campuses statewide and our state government offices, including Hawaii State Civil Defense," UH President M.R.C. Greenwood remarked during groundbreaking ceremonies Feb. 3. "It’s those lessons and our goal to provide a quality learning and research environment for our students, faculty and staff that have inspired this building."

The facility will house the central computing, data networking, telephone and video resources with backup power, air conditioning and connectivity — functions that are currently spread throughout the Manoa campus. The aim is to reduce the vulnerability of the IT system during natural and man-made disasters, UH officials say.

The consolidation will also provide greater efficiency and require less energy, according to David Lass­ner, UH vice president for information technology.

"We’ve imagined a building like this for our university for many years, and we’re excited to see it becoming a reality," he said.

According to a UH-Manoa fact sheet, the center will include meeting and training rooms, the university’s information technology help desk, a modern workspace for the Information Technology Services staff, facilities for faculty to develop and produce digital media content for education and research, and advanced teleconferencing rooms for members of the UH community to work with colleagues around the world. The completion target is May.

Also due to be completed next spring is the renovation and expansion of the Campus Center, a $28 million project that includes a two-story recreation center on the Diamond Head side. The rec center will have a multipurpose gym, an indoor jogging track, a fitness center for cardiovascular and weight training, multipurpose fitness studios, locker rooms and showers.

The entire area has been cordoned off, with dedicated temporary pathways around the construction site, which includes the old Ka Leo o Hawaii newspaper building. The newspaper offices are now in Hem­en­way Hall.

The design of the Campus Center expansion and the design and renovation of Hem­en­way cost another $10 million, said Brian Minaai, UH’s associate vice president for capital improvements.

New sidewalks and landscaping are planned, and the Campus Center itself is getting a new storefront for the bookstore, a new courtyard, new central air conditioning, an outdoor terrace and a Starbucks.

Other projects, according to Minaai:

» Edmondson Hall, renovation of laboratories, $15.3 million, with a completion target of September 2013

» Ching Field expansion, $13.4 million; completion target late 2013

» Bilger Hall and Biomedical Science Building, air-conditioning upgrades, $11 million, completion date unknown

» Gateway dormitory repairs, $10 million; completion date Aug. 9

» Sinclair Library renovations, $4.7 million; completion date June

There is also $13.1 million worth of work going on to modernize elevators and replace plumbing fixtures around the campus, according to Minaai.

In Kakaako, meanwhile, work is nearly done on a $120 million Cancer Research Center. The completion date is Sept. 28.