As the plan to make over the Neal S. Blaisdell Center moves ahead, one prominent state lawmaker continues to question whether the city should tackle that nearly $700 million endeavor before it finishes funding rail.
“Oahu taxpayers cannot take the brunt of paying for rail construction, rail operations and this project,” House Speaker Scott Saiki (D, Downtown-Kakaako-McCully) told Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell in a letter Wednesday.
The letter arrived hours before the city hosted its third and final meeting for the public to weigh in on the draft master plan for Blaisdell Center renovations. City officials, a consultant and community stakeholders have been working on the master plan for the 22.4-acre complex the past two years.
The project is estimated to cost $534 million, plus nearly $107 million in contingency funds and $51 million in increased material costs, according to ImagineBlaisdell.com Opens in a new tab, the master plan’s website. City-backed bonds — and possibly some partnerships with the private sector — will cover those costs, according to Caldwell’s office.
Meanwhile, the city is still waiting for the Federal Transit Administration to approve its latest, $9 billion financial plan to complete the full rail line to Ala Moana Center. The 20-mile, 21-station elevated transit project looks to be built with a mix of state general excise tax revenues, state hotel room taxes and federal dollars.
Rail’s costs have increased by more than $3 billion in the past three years, however, and it remains to be seen whether the project’s most recent funding boost will be enough.
“The current estimated $500-million-plus cost of the Blaisdell complex redevelopment could be better spent on mitigation of unanticipated future rail construction cost increases,” Saiki’s letter stated.
Caldwell pushed back in a statement released later in the day.
“Funding for the Neal S. Blaisdell Center Master Plan and construction of the rail project come from completely different sources,” the mayor said. “Any attempt to confuse the public regarding these separate funding sources does a disservice to our community.”
Caldwell and Saiki have a fractious relationship that dates back about a decade, when they served in the Legislature together.
It’s not the first time state leaders criticized the city’s plan to redo the Blaisdell Center and build rail simultaneously. In April, a draft rail-funding bill from the Legislature’s regular session included language to prohibit the city from “overextending itself fiscally by using public funds” to redevelop the center, as one House lawmaker put it.
The language was later removed. Nonetheless, the bill failed to pass and legislators had to meet in special session this summer to approve a rail deal.
In the days prior to the special session, Caldwell faced criticism for insisting that the rail spending package should have included an additional $548 million to pass an FTA financial “stress test.”
On Thursday, Saiki said that his letter did not validate Caldwell’s claim regarding the need for an added $548 million. “But in the event there is something unanticipated, the question is how the city will pay for it, and to commit $500 million now (to the Blaisdell) may not be the most feasible approach,” Saiki added.
Efforts to bring the Miss Universe pageant to Honolulu this year fell through in July after pageant officials determined that the Blaisdell Arena did not meet the event’s structural requirements.
The master plan’s current concepts, based on the input from two earlier workshops, include renovating the arena and replacing the Exhibition Hall; adding outdoor public spaces for informal performances; restaurants, cafes and bars; additional parking and improved traffic circulation by extending Victoria Street to Kapiolani Boulevard; and enhanced water features and fishponds.
At the public meeting Wednesday evening, Kahaluu resident Russell Lake, 61, said he thinks the aging facility needs to be renovated. The Blaisdell was built in 1964.
“There’s certain aspects that are kind of run-down,” said Lake, a retired firefighter. And “it needs to be ADA compliant.”
Debbie Urasaki, a 56-year-old Kunia resident who works for a contracting company that sets up events at the Exhibition Hall, said, “It’s due time for an overhaul.”
Rob Hauff, 47, wants green space included in the plan, saying, “I’d like to see more trees.”
Hauff added: “Cost is not a huge concern. I live in the neighborhood, attend performances in the concert hall. One of the reasons it’s nice is the green space.”
Wailuku resident Randy Shimabuku, 60, fondly recalls playing basketball for Baldwin High School at the Blaisdell Arena and was interested in the proposals.
“I think what we’re seeing is pretty neat,” he said. “I don’t think they have a lot of money because of the rail.”
Aaron Lau, 38, said: “I want to see something built that will outlast me, that will last 50 years versus actually 25. A quality product. I hope they bring in tomorrow’s technology, not today’s standards.”
Andrea Snyder, 67, a Kakaako resident and supporter of the symphony, said, “The new performance hall should be specifically designed for the Hawai‘i Symphony Orchestra.”
Neal Blaisdell Complex Modernization letter by Honolulu Star-Advertiser on Scribd
Star-Advertiser reporter Leila Fujimori contributed to this report.
