Reports on the condition of Aloha Stadium, Halawa’s 50,000-seat Rust Palace, keep getting bleaker.

A new study goes before the Aloha Stadium Authority Thursday, and it’s expected to report that over the past two years, corrosion has increased substantially. This is just two years after another study described the stadium as “a potential danger to public health and safety.”

It seems clear that spending an estimated $20 million to $30 million each year to maintain a deteriorating, obsolete, oversized and underused football stadium just doesn’t make sense anymore. And now that the 98-acre state-owned site is open to commercial and residential development — thanks to the lifting of a decades-old deed restriction a few years ago — the possibilities are tremendous.

Consultants over the years have suggested building a new 30,000- to 35,000-seat multipurpose stadium, with modern amenities and premium seating for both a wide variety of sports and other entertain- ment events. Several recent concerts by A-list performers fuel the vision.

To help pay for it, there is talk of partnering with private developers to build a critical mass of retail, dining, entertainment, housing, hotel and office development that would keep the area populated day and night. Since the city’s rail transit line will have a station there, the area could draw many more people than limited parking would otherwise allow.

It all sounds great. But such ambitions will require a combination of lots of money, business savvy and unified political will to drive the project forward to a successful, on-time and on-budget completion. It does not sound like a job for state bureaucrats.

So it’s intriguing that the Legislature has come up with a focused game plan that aims to provide both money and the blueprint for redeveloping the Aloha Stadium site.

Twin bills, House Bill 1479 and Senate Bill 1530, would establish a stadium development district for ancillary development overseen by the Hawaii Community Development Authority (HCDA), the agency that handles much of Kakaako’s redevelopment.

The bills call for spending $350 million — $100 million from general funds, up to $150 million from general revenue bonds, and $100 million in general obligation bonds — to launch a new stadium and redevelop the district.

The bills also require that development “be in accordance with any county transit-oriented development (TOD) plan.”

“At some point in time, we really need to do the right thing and invest in construction of a new stadium,” said House Finance Chairwoman Sylvia Luke. “I think it is our collective thought that we need to do it now as opposed to later.”

Agreed. But there’s a long way to go, and it’s a potentially perilous journey. Aside from the normal hurdles, such as an environmental impact statement, the state will have to avoid the pitfalls that have bedeviled other big public works projects. The many mistakes, delays and change orders that drove the cost of rail transit to $9 billion should serve as a cautionary tale.

There needs to be a fully vetted master plan. Much time and money has been spent over the years on outside consultants developing ideas for the stadium property; they need to be refined into a clear plan of action. That plan must include a critical TOD component: affordable housing, preferable rentals for low-income residents.

Lines of authority over the redevelopment of the district should be clear and transparent, avoiding a wasteful jockeying for influence among different state agencies.

Key players, especially the governor and the Legislature, should be unified and committed to advancing the project once approved. Private partners need a measure of certainty before they invest large sums of money and resources.

Finally, if there can be some accommodation for the venerable Aloha Stadium Swap Meet, that would be nice, too.