Stephen Tsai: It's past time to admit that new stadium isn't coming

Aug. 29—In 2011, months after winning Hawaii's gubernatorial election, Neil Abercrombie vowed to create a "definitive" plan on what to do with aging (and rusting) Aloha Stadium.

As retired columnist Ferd Lewis reminds us, Abercrombie's plan never materialized after he lost to David Ige in the 2014 Democratic primary election.

Ige, who went on to become Hawaii's eighth governor, was true to his engineer's background: meticulously analytical, almost to a time-consuming fault. After navigating through the pandemic, Ige, as his tenure was nearing an end, gave the go-ahead to focus solely on building a replacement stadium at the Halawa site. That edict did not last long.

And for now, the new administration's emphasis is rightfully on Maui's horrific situation. Every other project is, and should be, secondary to Maui's recovery.

Unfortunately, this Friday's game between Hawaii and Stanford is a reminder that schools cannot remain stagnant as college football's landscape evolves.

Stanford is one of four schools that will remain, for now, in a Pac-12 Conference set to downsize to four members in July. There have been conversations about Stanford and Cal joining the ACC or Big 12. But even with Stanford's resources and prestige, retaining Power Five status has not been an easy pursuit.

For UH, the challenge is greater in an uncertain future. As long as the Mountain West remains united — it would take nine of 12 dissenters to break up the league without exit penalties being assessed — the Warriors have a football conference for at least the next two years. But the Warriors are a football-only member in a mid-major conference. And being located at least 2,300 miles from the the next MWC campus, UH has a geographical disadvantage in future conference realignments. With lucrative television deals and congested schedules, the so-called "Hawaii exemption" of allowing an opponent an extra home game is no longer an attractive incentive.

What UH offers is the hope that its situation will improve in the future, that a replacement will be built for Aloha Stadium, which was self-condemned in December 2020. But developers have not been selected and nobody's really figured out a way to raze Aloha Stadium and ensure the ground it is on is environmentally safe.

The Warriors ended last season and began this season in stadiums that were partial construction sites. But those were temporary inconveniences. UH has sold its current stadium, the on-campus Ching Complex, also as a temporary inconvenience.

But with the lack of progress in Halawa, maybe it is time to pivot goals. In 2021, former governors Abercrombie, Ben Cayetano and John Waihee proposed abandoning plans to build a new stadium in Halawa and instead making Ching the Warriors' permanent home. The former governors proposed expanding Ching's seating to between 22,000 and 27,000. This summer, work was completed in expanding Ching to 15,300 seats. The former governors' proposal is worthy of consideration.

This Friday, UH has a chance to show that Ching is a workable permanent residence. With UH coming off a commendable performance against Vanderbilt, there should be a lively crowd. The mood also is enhanced with Stanford's drawing power.

UH has added seat backs for most season-ticket holders. Devin Donahue, the new Ching manager, was working on ordering trailer-styled restrooms to supplement the single-person portable bathrooms. Associate athletic director Vince Baldemor could not secure Kapiolani Community College as an off-campus site for tailgating this week, but the hope is it will be available for the Sept. 9 game against Albany. And in the future, second-level seating is needed for luxury boxes and to provide some covering for fans.

It's been 985 days since Aloha Stadium was self-condemned. Maybe it's time to look at a new plan.