Hawaii’s formal pitch to win the Barack Obama presidential library was submitted Thursday in a bid that projects between $25 million and $40 million in tax revenue and more than $2 billion in economic activity over its first 10 years.
The proposal by the University of Hawaii, written in collaboration with a who’s who of state leaders and institutions, says a Barack Obama Presidential Center in Honolulu would attract millions of visitors already in the market, which would make it one of the most visited presidential libraries in the country.
"President Obama is part of our island family," Gov. David Ige said. "Through our rich cultural heritage, vibrant visitor industry and Asia-Pacific ties, we believe we can help President Obama create an institution that will carry forward his important work on a global stage."
The Hawaii proposal was one of four bids submitted by Thursday’s deadline to the Barack Obama Foundation, which is coordinating the selection process on behalf of the president. The other bids came from University of Chicago, the University of Illinois at Chicago and Columbia University in New York City.
The president and first lady are expected to make a decision by mid-2015, with the Barack Obama Foundation expected to lead a capital campaign and oversee construction and program operations.
"We look forward to reviewing each proposal carefully and making a recommendation that reflects President Obama’s vision and goals over the course of his life and career," said foundation Chairman Martin Nesbitt, a longtime Chicago friend and Obama golfing buddy who has been on several holiday island vacations with the president.
Hawaii officials said the bid aims for the entire library complex but conceded they would be happy with only part of it. They said they have engaged in informal discussions with each of the finalists about the possibility of collaborating.
"The president has a lot on his plate but I’m hopeful he will see fit to put all or part of it in Hawaii," said U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz, who has been involved in Hawaii’s library campaign since 2009. "We can accommodate any or all of the center. If the president wants us to collaborate and split it with one or two, or even three ways, we can work with that."
Schatz said Honolulu has the location, the visitors, the community support and the base between East and West to appeal to the former Punahou student and his desire to continue his White House legacy.
The proposal, underwritten by $390,000 in state Legislature-approved funding, calls for an "action-oriented and education-based" presidential center on 8 acres of Hawaii Community Development Authority land in Kakaako near the ocean.
The full complex would feature an interactive museum, visitor center and presidential archive, plus a convening institute where world leaders could discuss global problems, a leadership academy focusing on issues related to schoolchildren, and a UH center for community organizing, which could appeal to Obama, a former community organizer in Chicago.
As part of the proposal, three national-local architectural partnerships — Snohetta and WCIT Architecture, MOS and Workshop-HI, and Allied Works Architecture — were commissioned to create building designs that show what’s possible for the site.
In addition, another firm, Honolulu’s Ferraro Choi, was hired to detail the structure’s "Living Building Challenge" potential, which includes features such as the use of natural ventilation for cooling, solar panels, rainwater collection and graywater recycling, wind turbines, vegetable gardens and a place for performance art.
If the library is built here in its entirety, it is projected to generate between $300 million and $600 million in new economic activity, depending on scale, and create up to 2,000 new jobs in the development phase alone, according to officials. Consultants, they said, figure the complex would generate $25 million to $40 million in state and city tax revenue and more than $2 billion in new economic activity in its first decade.
Proposed programs at the center will have independent revenue streams, which will enable them to operate on a self-sustaining basis, they said.
The proposal touts the fact that 8 million tourists annually visit the islands already. With its central location, the center would become one of the most visited presidential centers in the United States, according to the plan.
Two museum planning firms working independently, they said, developed annual visitor projections of 330,000 and 641,000, which would make the center one of Honolulu’s top five cultural attractions.
"I don’t think it will take long before it becomes one of the more visited sites in Hawaii," said Lt. Gov. Shan Tsutsui.
Honolulu Mayor Caldwell offered his enthusiasm for the project.
"The Obama Center in Kakaako will be the centerpiece of a more connected walkable community," he said. "It will energize our waterfront from Ala Moana Beach Park through Kakaako Waterfront Park, becoming a source of civic pride for all of Honolulu."
Asked whether Hawaii stands a chance against the fundraising powerhouses of Chicago and New York, Schatz dismissed that as a major factor in the selection.
"Presidential centers generally are not difficult to fundraise for," he said.
Obama library supporters maintain that most of the funds to pay for the center would come from out of state. While Hawaii donors will certainly contribute to the capital campaign, they said, most of the fundraising will be accomplished by the president’s foundation, with total fundraising expected to top $500 million.
"Hawaii is well positioned to assist a capital campaign led by the Obama Foundation by activating donors on the West Coast and throughout the Asia-Pacific region," according to a news release.
The proposal was formally submitted with not only the signatures of Ige, Tsutsui, Schatz and Caldwell but also UH President David Lassner, U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono, U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, U.S. Rep.-elect Mark Takai and the proposal’s steering committee.
Also signed on to the effort is a local advisory council and institutional partners that include the East-West Center, Hawaii Community Development Authority, state Department of Education, Hawaii Tourism Authority, Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Harold K.L. Castle Foundation, Kamehameha Schools and Punahou School.
"President Barack Obama is keiki o ka ‘aina — born, raised and molded in the melting pot of Hawaii. It is only natural that Hawaii serve as the home of the future Barack Obama Presidential Library," Hirono said in a statement.
"We’ve made our best case, and now it’s in (Obama’s) hands," Schatz said.
