LIHUE — When Lesther Calipjo was inaugurated as the president of the Kauai Filipino Chamber of Commerce, he made a bold call for the creation of a cultural center — a place that, he said, could be a place for
LIHUE — When Lesther Calipjo was inaugurated as the president of the Kauai Filipino Chamber of Commerce, he made a bold call for the creation of a cultural center — a place that, he said, could be a place for all.
That was in 2010.
In the years since, the Kauai Philippine Cultural Center has received the backing of the Kauai County Council, the Governor’s Office, the Legislature, and the Filipino Community Center on Oahu — not to mention many donors.
On Wednesday, the county Planning Commission joined that list after unanimously approving a pair of zoning and variance permits for the nearly 2.4-acre complex, setting the stage for construction to begin at the end of this year.
“We look at building something that we can provide services and help our community,” Calipjo told county Planning Commissioners before they cast their votes.
The cultural center, on an undeveloped 3.6-acre lot next to the YMCA facility in Puhi, is expected to be competed in two phases.
Kauai Philippine Cultural Center attorney Lorna Nishimitsu said County of Kauai officials granted the nonprofit a 99-year license to lease the property for $1 a year.
The first phase, which is expected to be completed within the next two to four years, will include a 9,653-square-foot community basketball court and a one-story, 12,725-square-foot building that will house office spaces, a commercial kitchen, and an event hall that can accommodate up to 220 people.
Those offices, along with the event hall, are intended to be used for cultural center events and staff but will also be available to rent for the community, Nishimitsu said.
“The place is so unique in terms of the different aspects and ways in which culture can be celebrated, and you need to consider that,” Kekaha resident Jose Bulatao, Jr. told Planning Commissioners. “If we’re going to be a place where future generations will have contact with the richness of their past, then we need to have a place for it to flourish. This is our shared kuleana.”
A total of $1.5 million in state grant-in-aid funds that were committed to the first phase of construction in May 2013 will be released soon, now that cultural center leaders have secured their county building and planning permits.
The second phase includes the construction of a 11,658-square-foot main hall, which is projected to be completed within the next five to seven years, depending on the amount of money raised from future fundraising events over time.
A 152-space parking lot, accessed by a driveway from Nuhou Street, will need to be constructed to accommodate the proposed cultural center complex.
“It is something of a dream that, I think, I not only want to pass on to my children but my students because we’re in it together,” Eleele resident Millicent “Millie” Wellington said. “This is a place where it will fill a lot of needs because who among us have been searching for a place to have a meeting, a place to teach, a place to exhibit, a place to learn? This is what our center is going to be all about.”
Kauai Philippine Culture Center by the numbers:
• Phase I building: 12,725 square feet
• Phase II building: 16,852 square feet
• Parking and walkways: 47,460 square feet
• Driveway: 16,883 square feet
• Basketball courts: 9,653 square feet
• Total coverage: 103,573 square feet
