HONOLULU — One key aspect of expansion work at the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex received a welcome timetable adjustment for the University of Hawaii.
The transfer of the Aloha Stadium 75-foot video screen is underway as board manufacturer Daktronics oversaw its disassembly in Halawa this week. Delivery of several dozen panels that comprise the video board are expected to be delivered to the Manoa campus in the coming days.
UH has erected a housing apparatus for the video board atop Les Murakami Stadium, overlooking the Ching Complex from the Diamond Head end zone, as part of its $30 million expansion project.
Former UH athletic director David Matlin told Spectrum News before he finished his eight-year tenure that he hoped the video board would be in place by the Sept. 1 home opener against Stanford, but that there was a possibility it would be finished in the middle of the 2023 season.
New Athletic Director Craig Angelos told Spectrum News on Friday that he’s under the impression it will be ready for the opener and that work to install it at UH will begin next week.
Aloha Stadium officials told KHON2 that the board should be installed by the end of July.
Meanwhile, UH continues work to expand seating at the Ching Complex to 15,000 seats. It has added aluminum bleacher seating in the two makai corners of the field, connecting the makai sideline seats to the Ewa and Diamond Head end zone seats with tunnels underneath. The Ewa seating is currently being built out to mirror the larger Diamond Head structure.
Angelos said stakeholders had a meeting Friday to discuss overall operations of the Ching Complex about 10 weeks out from the Aug. 26 season opener at Vanderbilt.
“We wanted to get everyone in the same room, everyone from parking to concessions to ticket sales to how many porta potties we need. A little of everything trying to make sure we’re prepared,” Angelos said. “Just making sure we’re on the same page.”
Angelos has been busy meeting various stakeholders over his first two weeks on the job. He said his time split between external and internal meetings has been about 80/20, but he expects that to change as he settles in.
Work to convert the two-tiered Cooke Field into a venue for UH soccer and track is still on track to begin in August, Angelos said, with the goal of fall 2024 completion.
Some more photos of Ching Complex work from June 16:
Brian McInnis covers the state's sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.