Though the project has no construction funds, Kaua’i County has been given the go-ahead for the long-delayed, long-awaited Vidinha Stadium expansion. A final environmental assessment (EA) has been approved and a finding of no significant impact has been issued by
Though the project has no construction funds, Kaua’i County has been given the
go-ahead for the long-delayed, long-awaited Vidinha Stadium expansion.
A
final environmental assessment (EA) has been approved and a finding of no
significant impact has been issued by the state Office of Environmental Quality
Control, technically giving the expansion project the OK to proceed, pending
various federal, state and county permits.
And that little matter about
where the $19 million for construction would come from.
Beth Tokioka,
county spokeswoman, said the county has repeatedly asked the state for funding
for the expansion, but so far no money.
There is a possibility that the
county will again ask the Legislature next year for money for the expansion,
she said. But there are other county projects, namely a new Kaua’i Police
Department facility, that have higher priority than the stadium
expansion.
It’s also possible that the county would float a bond issue to
raise money for construction of the stadium expansion, like it did for funding
for the new police station, Tokioka added.
The stadium expansion project,
planned for 10 acres adjacent to the existing facility, includes a swimming
pool, tennis courts and lights for the existing baseball field.
Using state
and county funds, the county Department of Public Works completed the
environmental assessment. And there is county money to complete preliminary
construction plans, said engineer Wally Kudo.
The Legislature appropriated
funds for design of the pool complex, and a consultant is doing the final
design for the pool, tennis courts, a pavilion and comfort station, said Ken
Kitabayashi, a county engineer.
Plans call for the 11 tennis courts and a
50-meter swimming pool to be lighted for night use, as will a parking lot that
will be built along Kapule Highway where soccer fields now sit.
If funds
become available, a 5,000-seat gymnasium and additional parking will be
constructed, for a total project cost in the neighborhood of $18.9
million.
A citizens advisory committee on the stadium expansion has agreed
to the improvements immediately adjacent to the existing, 5,000-seat stadium.
The latter is named for the late Antone “Kona” Vidinha, once a mayor of
Kaua’i.
Officials hope that having a first-class sports facility will allow
the county to host statewide, national and possibly international sporting
events.
There is no target date for beginning construction, but plans list
the pool to be built first at a cost of $6.8 million, with annual operating
expenses of $84,300.
The open-air pool would be 50 meters long and 25 yards
wide, with bleachers to accommodate up to 1,000 spectators, locker rooms,
restrooms, shower facilities and related under-roof facilities.
The
hard-surface tennis courts would be built next, at a cost of $1.6 million.
They’d have estimated annual operating expenses of $33,200, according to
officials.
The baseball lights would cost $800,000 to install and $20,790
per year to operate. The lights would allow the baseball field to accommodate
semi-pro baseball games or possibly spring training for a Japan professional
team.
The parking lot would accommodate 393 additional vehicles, bringing
the total for the complex to 1,141 stalls.
State and county plans call for
traffic signals at the intersections of Rice and Ho’olako streets and Rice
Street and Kapule Highway, even without the stadium expansion.
But there
are no plans, with or without the stadium project, to put up a traffic signal
where the stadium access road meets Kapule Highway.
There are other
recommended traffic improvements for roads around the stadium, mostly
restriping and widening to allow for left-turn lanes.
The environmental
assessment justifies the need for expanded stadium facilities in the area,
stating that in 1990 the Lihu’e district was home to 21.5 percent of the
island’s population, or 11,649 of 54,099 total residents.
By this year, the
population of the Lihu’e district was expected to be 17,171, and grow to 24,384
by 2010.
Staff Writer Paul C. Curtis can be reached at
pcurtis@pulitzer.net or 245-3681 (ext. 224).
