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As Aloha Stadium moves into middle age, the state should continue to renovate the facility, a plurality of respondents in the Hawaii Poll said.
Forty percent of those who were asked for the “best solution for a stadium on Oahu” said renovating the 40-year-old stadium was their preferred option.
The poll comes as the Aloha Stadium Authority is charged with making a recommendation on the future of the aging and increasingly expensive 50,000-seat facility.
A 2014 Department of General Services estimate said approximately $120 million in high-priority health and safety improvements would be needed to keep the stadium operational for five to 10 years.
A New York law firm contracted by the state last year recommended “the state seek opportunities to build a new 30,000-35,000 seat stadium on the lower portion of the Stadium site” at $132 million to $192 million.
Meanwhile, a University of Hawaii-commissioned study last year laid out the concept for a 30,585-seat multipurpose facility at an estimated cost of $165 million to $190 million. It was not site-specific.
Twenty-eight percent of respondents to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser/Hawaii New Now’s Hawaii Poll said UH should be responsible for building its own stadium.
On the subject of size, 16 percent agreed the “state should build a new stadium about the same size as — or larger — than Aloha Stadium” while 9 percent thought the state “should build a new, smaller stadium.”
Respondents who identified themselves in the $100,000-and-above income category were the strongest in favor of building a new facility at least as big as the present facility, while those at the $50,000-to-$99,000 level favored renovation of the existing stadium.
Four percent did not support any of the choices, and 3 percent either didn’t know or refused to answer.
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DENNIS ODA / 2010