Governor Neil Abercrombie has released $7.5 million in general obligation bonds to finance construction of the Hawaiʻi Community College Pālamanui campus in West Hawaiʻi.
Combined with the $9.68 million donated to the university in January by Pālamanui LLC, a partnership between Hunt Companies Hawaiʻi and Charles R. Schwab, this amount brings the total funding on hand to nearly $17.2 million for West Hawaiʻi’s first permanent campus.
The university expects to go out to bid on construction of Phase 1A, the Culinary Arts Building, and Phase 1B, the Health Science and Student Services Building, by the end of August or early September. Architectural design firm Urban Works has completed the plans and final design documents, enabling the bid process to begin.
The two phases will encompass 23,100 square feet of classroom, laboratory and support spaces for 700 students.
“The expansion of UH in West Hawaiʻi fulfills a need for its growing community,” stated Abercrombie. “Pālamanui will not only create new jobs but unique academic opportunities in the science and agricultural fields.”
“The community on the west side of the Big Island has waited long and patiently for us to arrive at this day,” said UH President M.R.C. Greenwood. “We are thrilled and gratified to be able to start the building process for this much-anticipated campus and bring the promise of a college degree that much closer to Hawaiʻi residents.”
The Pālamani campus, which will be an extension of Hawaiʻi Community College, will be the 11th permanent campus of the University of Hawaiʻi System, and is expected to open its doors to students in the fall of 2014.
Read the news release.
