Clarence T.C. Ching Athletic Complex Expansion and Improvements

https://www.bizjournals.com/pacific/news/2022/08/19/regents-ok-30m-expansion-ching-athletics-complex.html The University of Hawaii Board of Regents recently voted 9-1 to approve a $30 million capital improvement project to expand the seating capacity of the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex. One regent was excused. According to an announcement from UH, the project would increase the seating at the complex -- the university football team's home field -- from 9,300 to 17,000 seats, and also relocate the UH women's track as the expansion requires grandstands to be located on the existing track. UH said the new track will be located on the two practice fields for football and women's soccer near the athletic complex on UH Manoa's lower campus, with long-term plans to include seating for 1,200 and hosting track meets and UH women's soccer matches. Funding for the project will come from UH's Tuition and Fees Special Funds, or TFSF, but may be offset by $50 million in federal pandemic relief funds. The university said relief funds cannot be used for capital projects but will provide the flexibility to use the TFSF funds for the project. The project will be done in two $15 million phases, the first of which will expand seating. That work -- which includes removing and replacing the grandstands in the Ewa end zone, expanding existing seating in the Diamond Head end zone, adding seating that will wrap around the corner of the field where the current rack is located, and installing a 75-foot-wide video scoreboard currently at Aloha Stadium -- is set to begin in January and expected to be finished in time for the Sept. 1, 2023 season opener, the announcement notes. Meanwhile, the second phase, which is expected to begin in early 2023 and be finished by May 2024, will include the construction of new track and soccer facilities on the lower campus. That phase of the project includes excavation work, installation of a retaining wall and drainage, irrigation, utility systems and grandstand seating. According to a timeline included with BOR meeting materials, design-build contracts are anticipated to be awarded and design is set to begin in October for the complex expansion and December for the track and field relocation. This project follows an $8.1 million project in 2021 that increased the facility's capacity from 2,500 seats to 9,500 seats. The university learned in December 2020 that Aloha Stadium, which has served as the Rainbow Warriors' home field since 1975, would not be open to fans until a new stadium is built, putting the university at risk of not meeting minimum attendance requirements of 15,000 fans for Division 1 football. Athletic Director David Matlin said in a letter to BOR Chair Randolph Moore, that the closure of Aloha Stadium has "negatively impacted" the university's athletic program in a number of ways, including the loss of approximately $3.9 million annually in net contribution that was "no longer available to offset the costs of non-revenue generating athletic teams, most of which are within the women's programs." "I don't lack confidence in our ability to pull this off and impress with what we have achieved to date, but I am concerned on whether this is the best way to use $30 million under all of these circumstances," Moore said in a statement. Vice Chair Alapaki Nahale-a, however, supported the vote, "because I want this team (Rainbow Warrior football team) to know that this part of the challenge is covered. I absolutely believe in our team. Getting the current complex in the time frame that they did it, at the cost they did it, unbelievable! There is not another team in the state that could have done it so I have no doubt they could for this project." _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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Concrete, Cast-in-Place Concrete.