HONOLULU — Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell has announced the cancellation of plans to renovate the Neal S. Blaisdell Center due to financial concerns.
The $772 million plan called for demolishing and replacing the existing arena, exhibition hall and parking structure during a planned closure of about three years beginning in November, officials said.
This was “a logical time to pause the project,” Caldwell said in a statement Monday.
Caldwell cited the unknown final cost of the city’s major rail upgrade and a new administration and city council beginning in less than a year as contributing factors in the decision.
The renovation proposal had critics including Honolulu City Council members Ann Kobayashi and Carol Fukunaga and state House Speaker Scott Saiki.
City officials plan to address maintenance needed at the Blaisdell Center while trying to keep the facility open to the public during repairs, Caldwell said.
During fiscal year 2021, the city will also consider “significant renovation of one or more of our performance venues, at a reduced scope and cost,” Caldwell said.
The Blaisdell campus, named for former Honolulu Mayor Neal Blaisdell, first opened in 1964.
The $4.8 million plan for renovations called for a modernized but nearly identical version of the arena, replacement of the exhibition hall with an upgraded hall, arts ensemble building and satellite city hall and the replacement of the parking structure with two new parking facilities with capacity for 500 additional vehicles.
The plan also called for a new sports pavilion attached to the arena and upgrades to the existing concert hall.
The $772.8 million estimated price included overhead, fees and contingency costs, while the construction was estimated at $547.6 million.
“I want to emphasize that the planning and design for a modernized Neal Blaisdell Center resulted in an excellent and exciting vision for this facility, and I hope that the future administration will take advantage of it, in whole or in part,” Caldwell said.