Less than six months after U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye died, the University of Hawaii began the process to select a design consultant for a multimillion-dollar facility to house the congressional papers of one of the most significant figures in Hawaii’s modern political era.

But the project already is raising questions over the speed with which UH is pursuing it and regents’ discussions that have been held behind closed doors.

The school sent letters June 3 seeking qualifications information from firms interested in designing the Daniel K. Inouye Center even though the proposed facility hasn’t been publicly vetted by the Board of Regents and isn’t on UH’s list of priority projects for funding from the Legislature.

The letters indicated that responding companies would be interviewed by a selection committee before the end of that month — a turnaround that one industry official said was remarkably quick given the magnitude of the project.

"I’ve never heard of anything being done that fast," said Tim Lyons, president of the Subcontractors Association of Hawaii, referring to other major construction projects at UH.

A UH manager familiar with new construction projects agreed.

"For a job that size, that’s pretty aggressive," said the manager, who asked not to be named fearing repercussions. "It’s never that fast."

In pursuing a design contract, the university already has identified a proposed site (where Henke Hall sits on the Manoa campus), a size for the center (15,000 to 20,000 square feet) and the anticipated construction cost ($16 million to $20 million).

Such details have been discussed at meetings of what is known as the Campus Facilities Planning Board, which puts summaries on its public website. At a June 17 meeting, for instance, the summary noted that the UH president’s office would provide $1 million toward site planning for the project, while another $1 million would come from private fundraising.

The project appeared on the regents’ agenda for the first time last month. But the public was barred from those talks, held in executive session. The project will be up for public discussion at a future meeting, UH said.

UH sent the solicitation letters just a few weeks before a new law took effect that removes from the university procurement oversight for construction projects and related design and engineering contracts and places that responsibility with the administrator of the state procurement office.

The Legislature passed the measure to address allegations of favoritism — denied by UH — over the handling of such projects.

Because the design solicitation was initiated before July 1, when the new law took effect, oversight for this particular contract will remain with the UH president, according to Aaron Fuji­oka, who heads the state procurement office.

UH contends oversight will rest with Fujioka’s office.

At a time when UH is trying to restore public trust in the wake of last year’s so-called Wonder Blunder — a miscarried Stevie Wonder fundraising concert, the way the school is handling such a high-profile project is generating concerns.

"I don’t know why they would be rushing this when there are so many other things on their plate," said Senate President Donna Mercado Kim, who emphasized that she wasn’t questioning the need to build the center. "We want to do it right and make sure it’s done correctly, but doing it this way only causes speculation."

UH DEFENDED its handling of the project, saying it has pursued the work in an efficient and expeditious manner while abiding by all laws and regulations.

It said the design contract, which has yet to be awarded, will not require a state appropriation and will be paid for with private funding and a UH research training account that predominantly gets dollars from federal sources.

"This is a project of high impact for the nation, the state of Hawaii and the University of Hawaii," Vassilis Syrmos, UH-Manoa’s associate vice chancellor for research, said in a statement to the Star-Advertiser. "Due to its significance and the involvement of private funds, the university has acted expeditiously to bring this project to fruition in a timely manner."

Syrmos said the university often enters into professional services and construction contracts that are not on the capital improvements list submitted to the Legislature. Most of those contracts, he added, are funded by private money, federal dollars and other sources of non-state-appropriated funds.

When the university is ready to seek state money for the center’s construction, the matter will be handled in the normal fashion, first going through the regents’ annual review — typically held in the fall — to decide on funding requests that will then be submitted to the Legislature, according to Syrmos.

Because Inouye died in December, after the regents’ fall review in 2012, the center wasn’t part of this year’s request to the Legislature.

UH-MANOA Chancellor Tom Apple disputed the notion that the Inouye project has been shrouded in secrecy. In a statement to the newspaper, he noted that the center was mentioned on the regents’ July 18 meeting agenda, "which is public information."

But the agenda item — "Preliminary Discussion of Inouye Center" — was for an executive session. The discussion was held behind closed doors. No other information about the center was disclosed on the agenda.

Asked how UH justified discussing the project in private, Syrmos said the intent was for the administration to inform the regents of the different opportunities for funding a center of this scope, based on what has happened at other facilities around the country, such as the Edward M. Kennedy Institute at the University of Massachusetts. Funding can come from private, state and federal sources, Syrmos said.

He also said the purpose of the private discussion was to develop a strategy and coordination with the Daniel K. Inouye Memorial Fund. That fund was established by the Hawai‘i Community Foundation to help raise money for projects honoring Inouye’s legacy.

State law permits government boards to discuss only a few categories of information in executive session. One is the consideration of "matters related to the solicitation and acceptance of private donations."

The UH center is expected to be the main depository for the thousands of papers, photos, video, audio tapes and other memorabilia that Inouye accumulated over a lifetime of unparalleled public service, including 50 years as a U.S. senator and heroic duty during World War II, when he lost his right arm in battle.

Among the items in Inouye’s collection: the pen used in 1959 by President Dwight D. Eisenhower to sign the bill making Hawaii the 50th state.

At the time of his death, Inouye, 88, was the longest-serving member of the Senate and served as president pro tempore — third in line to the presidency.

According to the June 3 solicitation letter, the Manoa research center will require extensive stack space to house Inouye’s archival documents. It will feature an exhibit gallery for photos and memorabilia; audio-visual areas for viewing or listening to accounts of his legacy; research and seminar rooms; staff offices; and other space requirements.

"The design goals for this project are to develop a state-of-the-art facility that expresses Senator Inouye’s warm, gracious and unassuming persona, with an over arching goal of achieving national recognition for design excellence," according to the letter, written by Syrmos.

Once operational, the center will advance public service leadership, democratic ideals and global awareness through communication programs, education initiatives for school­children, exhibits, lectures and other civic engagement, according to UH. It will commemorate the role Inouye played in shaping America, Hawaii and the Asia-Pacific region.

Six companies responded to the June solicitation and were interviewed by the selection committee, according to UH. Under state law, UH said it was unable to disclose the companies’ names until an award is made.

Representatives from the state Department of Accounting and General Services, AIA Honolulu, Building Industry Association of Hawaii and Honolulu Magazine were among those who participated in the selection process, UH said.

Jennifer Sabas, director of the Daniel K. Inouye Institute, which among other things is raising funds to help preserve Inouye’s papers in collaboration with UH and the Library of Congress, said the Inouye family and the institute are appreciative of what UH is doing.

"We view it as a partnership," she said.

Sabas said the materials in Inouye’s collection are being stored in Hawaii and Washington, D.C., and there’s no reason from a storage standpoint — such as materials deteriorating because of an inadequate environment — to expedite construction of the UH center.

However, she added, "We would like to do it more quickly than not."

The multiparty effort to archive Inouye’s papers is expected to take two to three years. UH hopes to complete the Manoa center in that time, providing a permanent home for the telling of Inouye’s story.

State Rep. Isaac Choy, who heads the House Higher Education Committee and maintains "no one is more deserving" than Ino­uye of having a center honoring his life, cautioned UH against moving too fast on the project.

"The problem with the university is when they try to rush things, they don’t do a good job," Choy said. "This is for Sen. Inouye. It’s befitting the man to do it right."