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With all the disagreement over Aloha Stadium and what version 2.0 should or shouldn’t be, there are at least three things we can all agree upon — with building it as quickly as possible going unsaid:
1) The stadium needs to be home to more than just football.
2) Regardless whether it is a stand-alone facility or the hub of an entertainment district, it needs to produce revenue in steady streams. Maybe generating enough to break even is an unrealistic goal, but the more operating and maintenance costs that can be offset, the better.
3) The stadium should be a reflection of our multi-faceted community.
It adds up to multi-use — way beyond sports, concerts, mud bogs and swap meets.
The University of Hawaii football team played at San Diego State on Saturday. It gave Aloha Stadium manager Ryan Andrews, UH athletic director David Matlin and New Aloha Stadium Entertainment District consultant David Harris of WT Partners a chance to tour SDSU’s new Snapdragon Stadium on Thursday.
Maybe they can use some of what they saw there. Some of it was like seeing a finished product of what they envision for Halawa.
Harris was impressed by the spaciousness of the concourse areas.
“There’s an open-air feel that’s different than your typical stadium, and confirmed our plans,” he said. “There’s a whole range of different spaces, including a party deck, lounge spaces. The standing spaces are done up nice. That’s one of the things we’ll be taking away and hopefully including with NASED.”
Harris has to say “hopefully” because Gov. David Ige’s recently expressed interest in the project puts a lot of plans on hold, at least for the remaining few weeks Ige remains in office.
However the politics play out, though, efficient and creative use of the entire stadium — not just the playing field — should be included in any final plan.
There doesn’t have to be a game for there to be a party — or a business meeting — at the stadium.
“Our little hospitality room at Aloha Stadium has been used for birthday parties, graduation parties,” Andrews said. “Obviously, in San Diego now, it’s on a much larger scale. They have multiple areas of the new stadium that can be used for all kinds of events, such as corporate retreats, weddings. They’ve purposely made them different sized, plus with the option of dividers. The largest can accommodate 800 to a thousand people.”
San Diego infused its new stadium with symbols of its unique culture and history, at almost every turn.
Harris said planners here have been working on the same for the next Aloha Stadium, with help from the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, and community advisors.
“We’re taking a general approach, engaging public artists, and the university,” Harris said. “We’re really excited to see what comes of it.”
Then there’s food, of course.
Snapdragon Stadium has 10 of San Diego’s favorite local restaurants represented, plus three food trucks at each home game.
Hawaii can’t be beaten for its variety of great food. But with a few exceptions like garlic fries at the Stan Sheriff Center and the boiled peanuts at old Honolulu Stadium, this hasn’t been reflected at our sports concessions.
Maybe it’s because trying to compete with tailgate feasts was futile. But stocking the concessions at New Aloha with iconic local food and beverage names, old and new, low-end and high-end, could attract a whole new fan base.
“We’ve got a plan to bring in a lot of local fare,” Harris said. “The guys at Snapdragon executed that well. They feature local beers, and one of the local (breweries) came up with a new beer just for the stadium.”
Modern stadiums aren’t just where games are played for people to idly watch anymore. The word “spectator” seems quaint and obsolete, and sometimes people need reasons in addition to the event itself to show up.
If the area around the new Aloha Stadium isn’t developed into an entertainment district, the facility itself can be an entertainment center, even when there’s nothing scheduled on the field itself that night.
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