You could feel the singe of hot-potato politics as the University of Hawaii, fresh from another beatdown by state senators, quickly distanced itself from House legislation to abandon plans for a new $400 million Aloha Stadium in favor of expanding the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex at Manoa.

“We don’t want the money and we don’t want this stadium,” said UH Chief Financial Officer Kalbert Young, who likened it to the money pit of owning a boat.

Actually, controlling the stadium in which it plays its football games could be a financial boon for UH, which has long complained of athletics deficits caused partly by being cut out of subsidiary revenues at Aloha Stadium, such as parking, concessions and advertising.

UH is no stranger to managing sports venues; it fought for the 10,300-seat SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center and runs it capably, and also owns Hawaii’s premier baseball stadium. It’s done a better job of maintaining both than the state with Aloha Stadium.

Young’s response likely was more about not further antagonizing the Senate, the major champion of a new stadium and tony surrounding development. Senators have been on the warpath against UH with their rejection of interim Board of Regents Chair Alapaki Nahale-a for a new term and demands for UH President David Lassner’s resignation.

House Bill 2664 by Rep. Andrew Garrett, which passed in the House 35-14, would cancel the $400 million planned for a new Aloha Stadium and give a portion to UH to improve the 15,000-seat Ching Complex, which was built on the lower campus under emergency circumstances after the state in 2020 abruptly closed the crumbling Aloha Stadium.

Garrett, who would repurpose the Halawa site for affordable housing, says the $400 million is more needed for Maui wildfire recovery.

The bill has little chance in the Senate, which assigned it the unusual gantlet of five committee referrals, but it’s worth considering if only because the current plan is such a bad deal for the state.

The proposed 25,000-seat stadium to be built by a public-private partnership — half the size of the old Aloha Stadium and possibly lacking comfortable seating and sun shading — is simply not worth $400 million and valuable development rights to 70 surrounding acres. It more resembles the old Honolulu Stadium replaced by Aloha Stadium in 1975.

Other cities have built college stadiums and event venues with a lot more capacity and amenities for a lot less money in the past decade.

The New Aloha Stadium Entertainment District, which has zigged and zagged as state legislators and administrators changed their minds, is now seeking proposals from private partners. Previous solicitations have drawn interest from big-money players such as Stanford Carr Development LLC, Hawaiian Dredging Construction Co., Kobayashi Group, BlackSand Capital and Nan Inc.

It leaves a feeling that this project, like Honolulu rail, is structured more for the benefit of politically influential contractors, developers and unions than sports fans and concertgoers.

The UH lower campus is crowded, and it would be a daunting challenge to expand Ching Complex toward 20,000 capacity, make seating more comfortable, develop a parking plan and improve infrastructure such as locker rooms and toilets.

But universities are supposed to be hotbeds of ingenuity, right?

Reach David Shapiro at volcanicash@gmail.com.