AIEA, Hawaii — The sport of college football continues to evolve at a breakneck pace, with new rights and compensation for student-athletes taking center stage while loyalties and balances of power between schools and conferences change by the day.
But in Halawa, the state of Hawaii is still playing a waiting game. New Aloha Stadium Entertainment District project organizers have yet to accept the lone bid for a new stadium and outlying community on the 98-acre site, it was revealed at Thursday’s monthly Stadium Authority meeting at old Aloha Stadium.
A benchmark point of September – modified last month from early to late September – to name a “preferred offeror” has likely been missed with only few days remaining in the month.
However, Stadium Authority board members were hopeful that one of the NASED timeline’s main targets – a fully executed contract in June 2025 – remains intact, and a new stadium could still be ready for the 2028 University of Hawaii football season.
“Regardless of when we formally accept the proposal, our goal has been and continues to be a June 2025 date for contract execution,” Stadium Authority chair Brennon Morioka said. “That’s critical if we want to maintain the fall of 2028 stadium opening.”
The latest holdup for the embattled project is a Request for Clarifications process that has continued to play out as the Department of Accounting and General Services’ handpicked five-person committee reviews minutiae of AHDP’s proposal that was submitted in late July.
AHDP’s proposal includes not just the stadium but its vision for the outlying 98-acre district including residential and commercial components to be built out over decades.
Stadium Authority members were aware that the lack of significant news at the meeting could be distressing for some local football fans – especially given that UH, the would-be primary tenant of a new stadium, finds itself in a pivotal moment in the unpredictable world of conference realignment. UH on Thursday signed a long-term agreement for its football team to remain in the Mountain West Conference.
“I would share that (clarifications are) not uncommon … for projects of this size and scope,” stadium manager Ryan Andrews said. “It’s a city. People don’t realize that. It’s got every component of a city.”
Morioka said a large reason for his hope that June 2025 could still be hit for contract execution was that, with just one bidding team in the mix, certain preliminary discussions about the Halawa site may be had now between NASED and AHDP that otherwise could not take place until the selection of the preferred offeror.
"The fact we’re able to do some of the work that would be done even after the acceptance of the proposal – that’s a promising sign for us," Morioka said.
State Sen. Glenn Wakai, a longtime proponent of a new stadium who represents the Halawa district, declined comment when reached by Spectrum News on Thursday.
The specifics of the Request for Clarifications are not known to the Stadium Authority, its members said.
The identities of the committee members have not been made public; they are a mix of state employees and experts in the field of development. The group is reviewing the proposal with an eye on five areas: financial, technical, administrative, diligence and discussions, and commitments.
Details flagged in any of the five could result in a back-and-forth that AHDP must respond to before the committee can score the overall proposal and give its results to the state comptroller.
The DAGS committee meets with AHDP members on a near-weekly basis, deputy stadium manager Chris Sadayasu said.
Meanwhile, the stadium continues to schedule events in its Upper and Lower Halawa lots. It hosted about 15,000 attendees for the Megabon Hawaii dance festival on Sept. 7 and this weekend will have pickleball open play during the swap meet.
Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.