Hawai‘i Community College receives $9.68 million from Pālamanui for new Kona campus
UH System President M.R.C. Greenwood, UH Board of Regents Vice Chair James Lee, UH System Student Affairs and University/Community Relations Rockne Freitas, Hawai‘i Community College Chancellor Noreen Yamane, Mayor Billy Kenoi, and Steve Colón of the Pālamanui partnership.
In a Jan. 31 ceremony at the West Hawai‘i Civic Center, the University of Hawai‘i system received $9.68 million from the partnership building the Pālamanui community in Kona. The money will go toward construction of the Hawai‘i Community College Pālamanui Campus, the first permanent campus of the UH system in West Hawai‘i.
“After years of waiting for a new campus in West Hawai‘i, today’s presentation marks the beginning of turning a dream into reality,” said Hawai‘i Community College Chancellor Noreen Yamane, who spoke at the presentation. “Hawai‘i Community College Pālamanui will build and expand upon providing access to higher education opportunities, train a skilled workforce and support economic development in this region provided by the UH Center at West Hawai‘i.”
Pālamanui will soon begin infrastructure improvements worth another $10 million for the campus to connect to electricity and water lines. This infrastructure will increase the Pālamanui investment in the campus to nearly $20 million and will enable the completion of the planned first phase.
“I am thrilled to announce that Pālamanui has honored its commitment to provide the financial catalyst to make the Hawai‘i Community College Pālamanui campus a reality,” said Steve Colón, Hunt Companies Hawai‘i Division President, who was representing the Pālamanui partnership at the ceremony. “We would also like to thank Hawai‘i County Mayor Billy Kenoi and his administration for helping to ensure that infrastructure needed to support the college will be able to move forward in a timely manner.”
A rendering of the planned Hawai‘i Community College Pālamanui Campus.
Comprehensive building plans are now being finalized and should be completed in February. The University of Hawai‘i will apply for building permits and will put the first phase of the project out to bid in the first quarter of 2012. A blessing, groundbreaking and the start of construction for the Pālamanui campus is expected this summer. The first phase of the Pālamanui campus, upon completion in 2014, will become the 11th campus comprising the University of Hawai‘i System.
“Today marks the realization of a dream—that of access to higher education for West Hawai‘i’s underserved youth. The outlook for our children’s future just got brighter,” said Mayor Kenoi. “The kids on Hina Lani St. (in Kona) deserve the same access to higher education as the kids on Kawailani St. (in Hilo). Building this new Hawai‘i Community College Pālamanui campus makes that possible for hundreds of local families.”