Not Your Grandma’s High School: $3 Million Released for Kīhei High

Kihei High School conceptual image courtesy: Group 70 International Inc., State of Hawaii Draft EIS.

By Wendy Osher

Governor David Ige today announced the release of $3 million for the much anticipated Kīhei High School in South Maui.  The funds are for continued initial planning, including work on irrigation wells and land clearing.

Representative Kaniela Ing of South Maui tells Maui Now that he’s excited that the governor has followed through with the release, noting that funds were stalled with the previous administration.

He said the legislature worked hard to secure $30 million in funds this past legislative session, which will allow for the first phase of the project to get underway and enable the eventual movement of students onto the site.

Rep. Kaniela Ing. Courtesy photo.

(Note: In March 2014, house lawmakers announced that they had secured $130 million for construction of the Kīhei High School, and the governor signed off on the Final Environmental Impact Statement for the project in November of 2012; however the legislature was ultimately unable to get the larger funding release, which was eventually secured at $30 million)

According to Rep. Ing, groundbreaking will take place in September 2015, with the remaining $27 million in initial funds to be used after groundwork has been laid.  In all, the 77-acre project is expected to cost a total of between $70 million and $140 million, depending on cost of materials, Rep. Ing said in a phone interview.

Rep. Ing said the Kīhei High School was the number one issue in South Maui when he went door to door to talk with constituents.  “It’s more than education,” said Ing, who called the future high school a hub of the community and something to be proud of.

Rep. Ing said he will work with the legislature to get funding underway for Phase 2 in the next legislative session.  “We want to do more with less,” he said, and noted that, “the project will take due diligence and requires fiscal responsibility.”

Sketch of plan for net zero HS by designer: Wendy Meguro Atelier Ten via Rep. Kaniela Ing.

“I’m really excited that this will be the first Net Zero high school in the entire state,” said Rep. Ing, noting that the facility will be powered by clean and renewable sources with energy to come from the sun and wind.  “It sets an example for what high schools should look like in the future.  This is not your grandma’s high school,” he said.

“We’re trying to be as responsible as possible,” said Rep. Ing, who described the future facility as a place for modern learning and green practices.

The proposed Kīhei High School project site encompasses 77.2 acres of undeveloped land on the mauka side of Pi‘ilani Highway across from the Pi‘ilani Village residential subdivision.

Rep. Ing noted that a project of this magnitude will take longer than something like the Kīhei Police Station, which was 2-3 acres and was built fairly quickly. In addition to the school buildings, the High School also calls for a stadium and gym facilities on a much larger parcel of land.

The school, upon complete build out, will serve grades 9 to 12 in the South Maui Region, and is designed to support an enrollment capacity of 1,650 students, and approximately 206 supporting staff and faculty.

The funding is among three CIP projects on Maui that will receive a portion of a more than $40 million appropriation for capital improvement projects across the state.

[flashvideo file=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHtanpvrN0g /] Also on Maui, the governor released $1.5 million to the Waiohuli Hawaiian Homesteaders Association, Inc. for the design and construction of Phase II of a community center complex.

The association broke ground on Phase I of the project in July 2012 on the Waiohuli Community & Recreational and Center, located at the bottom of Lau’ie Drive.

In West Maui, the governor released $30,000 for Phase 1B-2 of a project to construct a two-lane highway to provide a bypass around Lahaina Town.

“Airports and highways must be maintained not only for our residents, but, also, for our visitors, as they are the welcoming face to our islands state and help support Hawai‘i’s economic vitality,” said Governor David Ige in a press release today.

“Building a Hawai‘i we are proud to call home requires us to maintain and improve state facilities. These priority projects are investments that will boost our economy and better serve Hawai‘i’s people,” said Governor Ige.

“Funds spent now to repair and maintain the state’s housing facilities and schools will reduce project backlogs and prevent the maintenance requirements from becoming more significant in the coming years. More importantly, they will support families and children allowing them to thrive,” he said.

Below is a list of the other projects receiving allocations as part of the recent funding release:

Statewide:

$1,113,335 – Hawai‘i Public Housing Authority (HPHA) – Lump sum for housing development, upgrades and renovations, statewide. HPHA administers a public housing portfolio of 85 properties consisting of 6,195 public housing units.

Hawai‘i Island:

$15,000 – Hawai‘i Belt Road – safety improvements from Laupāhoehoe Gulch to Kaʻawaliʻi Gulch.

$550,000 – Kaʻū High School – repair termite damaged gym floor, showers and replace lockers.

$2,700,000 – Department of Transportation/Kona International Airport at Keāhole – design of terminal modifications to improve capacity, efficiency and security.

$680,000 – Māmalahoa Highway – construction of drainage box culverts and raise the roadway in the vicinity of Kāwā to minimize flooding.

$20,000 – Māmalahoa Highway – design of intersection improvements at Māmalahoa Highway and Mud Lane in Waimea.

Kaua‘i:

$80,000 – Mailihuna Road and Kapaʻa Stream Bridge – intersection improvements and stream bridge rehabilitation.

$60,000 – Kaumualiʻi Highway/Hanapēpē River Bridge – replacement and/or rehabilitation of the bridge along Kaumualiʻi Highway.

$1,300,000 – Kīlauea School – finance planning, design and construction of improvements to the school’s waterline.

O‘ahu:

$9,318,772 – Aloha Stadium – various structural and health and safety repairs and improvements.

$9,000,000 – Honolulu International Airport – roadway and miscellaneous improvements. Includes design and construction of upgrades to 3rd level roadway for the interisland terminal (IIT) and at vehicular connecting link between IIT and the overseas terminal.

$1,712,364 – Honolulu International Airport – construction of airfield lighting improvements for Runway 4L at the airport bridge.

$400,000 – Honolulu International Airport – closing costs for permanent consolidated car rental facility.

$333,334 – Honolulu International Airport – plans for a Federal Aviation Administration compliant Airports Surveying Geographic Information System.

$300,000 – Honolulu International Airport – part of construction for new employee parking lot.

$583,790 – Kalaeloa Airport – design and construction of about 100 new T-hangars and related infrastructure improvements.

$5,425.000 – Kamehameha Highway – emergency shoreline improvements along Kamehameha Highway in the Kaʻaʻawa area.

$165,000 – Department of Agriculture, Hale Kanahoahoa building – reroofing and replacement of air conditioning system.

$216, 500 – Department of Transportation – guardrail and shoulder improvements at various locations on Oʻahu.

$800,000 – Hāmākua Marsh – construction for mangrove eradication.

$750,000 – Mililani High School – replacement of deteriorating wood bleachers at athletic field.

$870,000 – Lanikai Elementary School – design phase for the cafeteria.