The first phase of the Culinary Institute of the Pacific at Diamond Head is completed, with the keys slated to be handed over to the University of Hawaii on Wednesday. It’s a project that has been in the works for more than 20 years.

Events for alumni, donors and invited community members are planned for next week. A public event will likely be held just prior to the fall term, UH spokesman Dan Meisenzahl said Wednesday.

At a cost of $25 million, Phase I includes advanced multi-function and Asian cuisine laboratories, a lounge, locker room, storage area, the first of two parking lots and infrastructure for the entire project, comprising 6,500 square feet. The institute is on the slope of Diamond Head at the 7.8-acre site of the Army’s former Cannon Club. The lounge will not serve food to the public.

Third-year advanced professional certificate classes, available to culinary students from the entire UH community college system, will move in the fall from Kapiolani Community College to the institute, said Ron Takahashi, chairman of the Culinary Arts Department.

That certificate in culinary management feeds into a bachelor of applied science degree at UH-West Oahu. After the entire institute is complete, courses for the four-year degree will be available at that site, Meisenzahl said.

While for-credit classes will begin in the fall, Takahashi said KCC’s popular public culinary classes will move to the institute in late March.

“The CIP kitchens will also be home to our upcoming Lyle and Grace Guslander ‘Master Chef’ series, where our local culinary students, industry professionals and epicures will interface and learn from some of the top chefs from around the world,” he said.

In the fall, KCC’s culinary competition classes will move to the site as well.

The project was initially divided into two phases, but Meisenzahl said the second phase could be split into smaller ones, depending on funding. The entirety of the remaining work, slated to cost $30 million, includes an auditorium, restaurant, classroom building and advanced patisserie and confectionery labs. No completion date has been set.