HĀLAWA — On Thursday morning, the Aloha Stadium Authority held its monthly board meeting, a run-of-the-mill session before it plans to come together for one last time in 2025 in December.
After announcing plans for a new 22,500-seat stadium at the current site in August, the New Aloha Stadium Entertainment District (NASED) has continued to negotiate with Aloha Hālawa District Partners, the stadium and entertainment site's developer.
NASED and AHDP have yet to formalize a master development for the 98-acre site, but interim stadium manager Chris Sadayasu and board chair Eric Fujimoto both shared during Thursday's meeting that negotiations have been progressing consistently.
"We are very close on a lot of the terms, but I think as we continue to negotiate that, we're shooting to bring it to the board in next month's board meeting," Sadayasu said during Thursday's meeting. "The demolition and dismantling work, they're still ramping up to get that going. But the main thing is that we're still on schedule to deliver the new stadium in March 2029."
One of the first physical steps towards building the new stadium will be dismantling the current one. January 2026 remains the time period in which that would begin.
"I'm optimistic that we can bring an agreement towards the board," Fujimoto said.
Potential items that could be presented at the December meeting include an updated rending to reflect the planned 22,500 seats at the stadium, though Fujimoto says that will be at the discretion of the developer.
Also during the meeting, board member Claire Tamamoto suggested involving the public in the dismantling process with the hope that some fun activities will come of it. Fujimoto agreed, stressing that the stadium is a community asset.
"I'm open to your (ideas) too," Fujimoto said after Thursday's meeting. "For me, I was born and raised in Pearl City, I live in ‘Aiea and I pass the stadium every day to work and back. So, yeah, to involve the community would be natural."
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Christian Shimabuku can be reached at christian@alohastatedaily.com.
