The Kohala Center - Press Room

NORTH HAWAI'I NEWS
October 13, 2005

A Look into the Future
by Ron Eland

What will Waimea, Waikoloa or Kawaihae look like in the next 10, 20 or 50 years?

A group of college students from Montana State University is hoping to answer that question while providing some suggestions of their own as part of "Designing Our Future: Waimea Design Studio."

The 15 graduate students, along with professor John Brittingham and guest faculty member Clark Stevens, have been on the Big Island for nearly two weeks now and have been busy gathering information on the expected growth of the area. During a public meeting Friday at Parker School, more than 50 people turned out to hear what their preliminary findings and suggestions were regarding Waimea, Waikoloa and Kawaihae.

Brittingham stressed that their suggestions are just that - suggestions - and that their information will be made available for consideration during the county's formal Community Development Planning process. Their overall findings will also be available for public viewing at the Kohala Center in the upcoming months.

"The first five weeks of the semester, the students focused on remote learning and research," Brittingham said. "But within the first 48 hours after arriving, we learned as much or more than we had in the previous five weeks. They're already learned two to three times more about the island than what they had learned in Bozeman."

The first group discussed, and showed via a slide show, what they could envision Kawaihae looking like in years to come. In addition to having alternative energy sources such as solar and wind, they see a commercial center adjacent to the harbor. A place where vendors could sell their products and take advantage of the increased tourism in that area thanks to the Hawaii Superferry which will be deboarding passengers and cars at the harbor.

"We'd like to see a sense of community to bring people from all over the island to sell their goods," one student said.

For Waikoloa, or "an oasis in the middle of a desert" as one student put it, the students said it offers lots of houses but little else.

"There's not a lot of other stuff to build a community around," one student said. "There's a school, store and golf course but not a lot of other public gathering areas like parks, municipal pool, a theater or a gymnasium."

They also suggested creating a new main street or downtown area for commercial use and a community gathering place.

The students said a major problem is the one road in and out of the Waikoloa as well as the 59 cul-de-sacs and 13 unfinished roads in Waikoloa.

"It's like a plate of spaghetti," one said.

Because of the impending growth to the area, they said new schools including the area's first high school and middle school will be needed. In addition, as far as their long-term vision, they'd like to see reforestation in the area as well as a trail systems for residents and tourists. And like Kawaihae, they feel Waikoloa should take advantage of solar and wind power.

The final group discussed Waimea and its needs for the future. It wasn't a surprise that traffic was one of their biggest concerns and that bypasses are needed. They also suggested putting in green belts throughout town as well as pedestrian roads for walkers, joggers and bicyclists.

"You need a place of destination like a town center," a student said. "There needs to be something that can be considered the soul or heart of Waimea."

They also said that there needs to be more agricultural land and what land there is, needs to be used more wisely. They also talked about the reforestation of hardwoods like koa as well as having smaller communities with residential and commercial to help cut down on the traffic. And finally, they suggested a rail system around the island be built in the next 50 years as an additional way to help reduce traffic congestion.

For more information on this project, visit www.kohalacenter.org or www.waimeaplan.org.

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The Kohala Center
P.O. Box 437462
Kamuela, Hawaii USA 96743
Phone: 808 887-6411, Fax: 808 885-6707
Email: info@kohalacenter.org