A feasibility report three years ago determined that dramatic redevelopment of Neal S. Blaisdell Center would be the most cost-effective way to help sustain, expand and modernize the 22-acre site to showcase arts, culture and other types of events.

Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell embraces the report as the first step in a master plan process that envisions substantial investment by the city and potential private-sector partners, with the outcome being a gathering place on par with the great civic centers of the world.

A sparkling replacement for the dated campus is a tantalizing idea. However, given the city’s fuzzy financial outlook and redevelopment plans in the works for other venues, the city should rethink the plan, or at least hit the pause button on this big-ticket item — now priced at a whopping $772 million.

Arguing to the contrary last week, the city’s Enterprise Services director, Guy Kaulukukui, said: “You could pick a year — last year, next year, two years from now — and the argument would be the same thing, that it’s expensive.” He added, “As an administration we decided that this is the time, this is the year.”

Yes, a delay could result in the cost of construction going up. But given issues such as uncertainty tied to rail operation costs and public-private redevelopment plans for Aloha Stadium, Blaisdell’s slated makeover is uniquely ill-timed.

Under the latest timeline, Blaisdell would close in November 2020 for about three years. Among the facilities on the demolition-and-replacement list: the exhibition hall, parking garage, shops along with sidewalks and landscaping. The new design folds in roomier public spaces and hundreds of additional parking stalls.

The concert hall and arena would undergo major renovations, with the arena seating increasing to up to 8,600 from 6,500. Add to that a new performance hall (1,500 seats) and sports pavilion (2,500 seats) as well as garden walkways, water features and five restaurants or bars.

A push for expanded mixed-use also figures prominently in the state’s $350 million effort to remake aging Aloha Stadium’s 98-acre site. On the drawing board: a scaled-down replacement for the 50,000-seat venue — a 30,000- to 35,000-seat arena — surrounded by restaurants, shops, offices and housing.

Rail stations are expected to be built near the stadium, Blaisdell and in live-work-play Kakaako, which too is seeing a surge in mixed-use spaces. With so much build-up imminent for Honolulu, the cash-strapped city should now double-check its rationale for going so big, and so costly, at Blaisdell.

Caldwell has noted that 55 years ago, when the Blaisdell campus replaced a much-smaller civic auditorium in Pawaa, the price tag added up to about one-fourth the annual city operating budget. Likewise, this master plan would cost roughly one-quarter of today’s city budget. However, approaching rail costs could crush such an apples-to-apples comparison.

The city has yet to determine how it will pay for rail operations and maintenance — estimated at between $127 million and $144 million when the 20-mile, East Kapolei-to-Ala Moana Center line is scheduled to be fully functional, in 2026. A slice is expected to be covered by passenger fares, with the city likely subsidizing the balance. That could leave sets of taxpayers with a heavy lift. The Blaisdell revamp — to cost more than twice the estimated amount for replacing Aloha Stadium — seems too tall an order for a city struggling to maintain standard government services while addressing growing problems, such as low inventory of affordable housing.

Swirling questions that rightly second-guess the scope of Blaisdell’s master plan behoove the Caldwell administration and the City Council to re-examine it, and scale back on nice-to-have but unnecessary elements.