AIEA, Hawaii — A key player in the yearslong effort to construct a new stadium in Halawa is subbing himself off the field.
Ryan Andrews, the four-year manager of shuttered Aloha Stadium, has accepted the position of director of student recreation services at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, Andrews announced during Thursday’s Stadium Authority board meeting.
His move comes before a paradigm shift for his position, from one of stadium operations to likely one of land and contract management for the expansive, mixed-use New Aloha Stadium Entertainment District.
“I knew that once this became a construction project, it wouldn’t be something I was really interested in doing,” Andrews told Spectrum News. “I’m an operator. I like operating buildings, and facilities and programs. That’s where my passion lies. Once we shut the stadium down (in December 2020), I’ve been hanging in there doing my best helping with the transition, but my intention was always to leave once it became a construction project.”
Andrews held a similar recreational director position in the University of California system before he moved to Hawaii.
Deputy manager Chris Sadayasu was confirmed by the Stadium Authority as interim manager starting next week. He takes over at a pivotal time; there is a five-month period to achieve full contract execution with bidder Aloha Halawa District Partners. The June window must be hit to maintain a schedule — often described as “aggressive” — for the new stadium to be ready for the UH football season in the fall of 2028.
Stadium Authority chair Brennon Morioka expressed sadness that Andrews, in some ways his co-pilot at the head of the table during Stadium Authority meetings, was leaving. But Morioka said the 2028 timetable remains intact.
He pointed out that Andrews, with the blessing of UH, pledged to remain available through June as a resource to help with contract execution.
“I think we’re still very comfortable with the expertise that we have,” Morioka told Spectrum News.
Andrews said he hired Sadayasu 18 months ago for just such an eventuality. Sadayasu, an attorney, has a background in housing and project management, two key aspects of NASED in the months ahead.
“I thought, ‘this can be the guy who leads it into that next phase,’” Andrews said. “I think he’s going to be the right guy moving forward.”
The position could go through some changes. A permitted interaction group, or PIG, has been commissioned to determine how the job should evolve.
Morioka said that process could be as fast as four to six months, or much longer.
“We have the opportunity without someone in the position … to really step back and make the decisions we need to make about what the future of the stadium authority management team looks like, and what the head of the entity is responsible for,” Morioka said. “Because we’re no longer a stadium manager, we’re a district manager.”
Andrews was presented with a framed certificate from the Hawaii Senate from Sen. Glenn Wakai, who represents the Halawa district, and Sen. Brandon Elefante, who represents Aiea, Halawa and Pearl City.
Board member Eric Fujimoto praised Andrews for his sound money management.
“You can look back at how he built the reserves of a non-functioning stadium from $1 million to $7 million,” Fujimoto said.
During his monthly report, Andrews noted that three big events in February — two concerts and the Great Aloha Run — will mark the end of such happenings on the 98-acre site. Relocation of the Swap Meet to a different area of the parking lot is due to take place shortly thereafter.
Andrews took over the stadium manager job in October of 2021 when his boss, Scott Chan, announced his retirement. He’d been deputy stadium manager since 2016.
Andrews shrugged at the prospect of public criticism that he is leaving an embattled, oft-delayed project.
“People are going to say what they’re going to say. There’s haters everywhere,” he said. ‘Oh, he’s leaving now because it’s getting hard.’ It’s been hard the whole way through.”
He noted that when he came on at the stadium, he was told there would be a new one within five years.
“I’ve gone a lot beyond five years. We’re still working at it and I hope they can get it over that goal line,” he said. “I feel like we’re there. We have a developer.”
At the same time, he expressed frustration that Hawaii government still has not aligned behind NASED. He mentioned House Bill 1494, which calls for the Halawa project to be scrapped and restarted as a permanent stadium on the UH Manoa campus.
“When we don’t have full government support, it’s really hard for outsiders who are considering investing in this project, to invest in this project,” Andrews said. “I think we’re really lucky that we actually have Stanford Carr as one of the lead partners of that development team because he understands local politics. But people from the mainland that are looking at sinking a lot of money into a project like this, they see bills like that come up, they question if they should put in their time and energy into this project.”
After his confirmation as interim manager, Sadayasu left immediately for the Capitol to give testimony on House Bill 1494.
Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.
