UH regents approve construction moratorium

HONOLULU — University of Hawaii regents are placing a moratorium on new construction to focus resources on maintenance.

The Board of Regents approved putting new construction on hold for three years with the exception of 13 projects costing $170 million, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported Tuesday.

The board will direct capital funds to a repair backlog that has reached $487 million. About 84 percent of the maintenance needs are at the flagship Manoa campus.

Exemptions cover major projects such as the College of Pharmacy at UH-Hilo, Kapiolani Community College’s Culinary Institute of the Pacific at Diamond Head and an advanced technology training center at Honolulu Community College.

Regents are seeking money for nine other projects in the proposed university budget.

“My concern was if we spent too much of our efforts to approve new projects, that it would somehow affect our ability to take care of the back of the house,” Benjamin Kudo, the regent who proposed the plan, said last month. “We’ve neglected too long to care of our physical plant.”

The regents have asked university officials to come up with a schedule to eliminate the repair backlog by 33 percent in the first three years; by 66 percent in the following three years and completely by the 10th year.

The board plans to re-evaluate the new construction freeze after three years.

Some worry it will mean less work for the building industry.

“Certainly any project that’s shovel-ready and does not proceed would be a loss,” said Ron Taketa, executive secretary-treasurer of the Hawaii Regional Council of Carpenters. “We certainly understand the important responsibility for the regents to prioritize spending, but we’re hoping the moratorium is short-lived, not just for the jobs it would produce in the short run, but to allow the university to become a 21st-century institution that the community relies on.”