HĀLAWA — A special Aloha Stadium board authority meeting was held on Wednesday morning. The board typically meets on the last Thursday of each month, but Wednesday's meeting was organized in an effort to execute a contract between the New Aloha Stadium Entertainment District (NASED) and the developer, Aloha Hālawa District Partners (AHDP), before a self-imposed Aug. 15 deadline between the two parties.
Following a prolonged executive session as the Stadium Authority sifted through some 600 pages of legal documents, a vote was unanimously approved to initiate a ground lease agreement with AHDP, which would begin with demolishing the current stadium.
All signs point toward a March 2029 completion towards the new Aloha Stadium, which will seat 22,500. The initial target date for the new stadium was August 2028, with the University of Hawai‘i's Aug. 26, 2028 opener against Kansas being eyed as the first game the Rainbow Warriors would play in their new home.
The only game thus far on Hawai‘i's 2029 schedule is an Aug. 25 home contest against Arizona. Former Stadium Authority board chair Brennon Morioka, who stayed on as a special advisor, says he hopes events are held at the new stadium in the months before the 2029 college football season in order for organizers to get their bearings on what works well operationally and what doesn't.
New Stadium Authority board chair Eric Fujimoto expects the city to issue demolition permits next week.
The seating capacity of 22,500, as well as 10 luxury boxes, was agreed upon as the best number to begin with after considering issues associated with costs, such as tariffs and the delivery of materials and supplies. Future seating expansion remains an option. For now, the intent is to have a stadium suitable for football, soccer and rugby.
AHDP, led by Stanford Carr, is prepared to spend $475 million in total in building the stadium itself. Of the $475 million, $350 million comes from the state. An additional $49.5 million in operating costs has yet to be accessed but has brought the state's allocation towards the stadium to $400 million. That means as part of the public-private partnership, AHDP would allocate $125 million of its own money to meet the $475 million towards the stadium.
In addition to the completion of the stadium in 2029, AHDP will continue to work on building the surrounding entertainment district, which also includes affordable housing. A official timeline for the completion of the entertainment district has not been released.
As NASED and AHDP neared an agreement, August 2028 no longer seemed feasible, but December 2028 did.
"But that would have been very aggressive," Morioka said following Wednesday's meeting. "None of us would have been comfortable with setting an overly aggressive date, knowing that the date is probably going to change and in trying to be as transparent as possible. ... This project has been based on transparency. So we wanted to make sure that this is what transparency looks like, right? The good news, as well as some of the not so good news.
"We think that the March 2029 date is a very realistic date, very achievable date, that I think people can kind of start setting their minds around. We didn't want to set an aggressive date and then we go through construction, start not hitting certain dates and milestones. Then the public starts talking about, well, there we go again. You know, we wanted to be very upfront from the very beginning. These are expectations. These are what we believe are achievable. And so we wanted to make sure that the public knew this is the path forward that we're going for."
Despite Wednesday's announcement, NASED officials still need a signed operational agreement from AHDP but are able to proceed with demolition of the current stadium.
Although there are still items that need to be checked off throughout the process, Wednesday's meeting had an air of triumph to members of the Stadium Authority board.
"If you love Hawai‘i, share this with me: I proudly affirm a unanimous vote," Fujimoto said at the end of the meeting, receiving a round of applause in the room.
Meanwhile, on Aug. 23, the University of Hawai‘i football team will open its 2025 season against Stanford on 1:30 p.m. at the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex, marking the fifth season in a row that the Rainbow Warriors have used their temporary stadium on campus.
"Very excited for the state of Hawai‘i," head coach Timmy Chang said after Wednesday's practice when asked about the possibility of a new Aloha Stadium. "We all as a community use it for reasons and purposes. When it gets done, it's going to be exciting."
Chang played in the old Aloha Stadium as a high schooler for Saint Louis as well as collegiately for UH.
"Playing is one thing, but I really just enjoyed my childhood there being a ball boy and watching when life was a lot more simpler, and just running around up and down the sidelines and throwing the ball to referees and being a ball boy for ILH football games," Chang recalled. "Those are some of my best memories, just being able to play or catch field goals and just be at big games and Prep Bowls and those type of things, and so I really enjoyed that time in my life."
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Christian Shimabuku can be reached at christian@alohastatedaily.com.
