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JAMM AQUINO
Fans wait to meet and greet the Hawaii Warrior football team after spring football practice on Saturday, April 21, 2012 at War Memorial Stadium in Kahului on the island of Maui.
WAILUKU >> Maui County is ending its plans to replace grass at War Memorial Stadium with artificial turf because of a $1.5 million price tag.
The county originally planned to spend about $1 million on the entire project, including design work, The Maui News reported Thursday (http://bit.ly/1sIvAmL). But county spokesman Rod Antone said bids that came back in April were much higher than what the county wanted.
Maui County Councilman Don Guzman said the county received a $920,000 grant from the state for the project.
The stadium was built in the 1950s and was the former home of the Hula Bowl, a college football all-star game. Now it hosts the Maui County Fair and other events.
After reviewing the bids, county officials decided it would be more cost-effective to maintain a real grass field, Antone said.
Antone said changing to artificial turf also raised concerns about whether that would hurt the county’s ability to attract high-quality sporting events. The field will now instead be properly maintained, he said.
Guzman, chairman of the county council committee that handles parks requests, said he was caught off-guard by the plan to end the artificial-turf project. He said he would support spending more money on the artificial turf and hopes the parks department makes a request.
