 Good afternoon. Welcome to Think Tech Hawaii's Movers, Shakers, and Reformers of Politics in Hawaii series. I'm your host, Carl Kempian. Today, we're going to talk and learn a little bit about Aloha Stadium. It's been around since the mid-70s, I believe it was originally built in 1975, very first game played in 1975 as well, and has just proceeded from there to be a site of many, many events and activities, including the Pro Bowl. We missed it last year, hoping to get it back again. I would love that, but there's a lot of developments happening, and there's a lot of issues and concerns over the past several years on what to do with this now aging facility. So to help me with this conversation, I am thrilled and excited to introduce Senator Glenn Wilkai to the show. Thank you for joining me today. A pleasure to be here. Thank you for having me, and you're talking about thrills. I mean, Aloha Stadium is something that people can get excited about. Prisons, not so exciting, bridges, not so exciting, but a stadium. That is exciting. It really is, because it brings about entertainment. It brings about community coming together, whether it's a cultural purpose or, you know, well, sports can be a cultural purpose, but there are other means and other reasons, another variable. So, okay, before we jump into Aloha Stadium, because we're going to talk the rest of the show about that, what I would like to do is let our listening and viewing audience learn a little bit about you. You are a state senator, Senate District 15. Correct. Tell us a bit about, because you have a history before that, so tell us a bit about yourself and how you got to where you are and what your focus on Aloha Stadium is. So just give us a brief history, bringing us up to Aloha Stadium. Well, I was bored, and I'm just joking. I'll bring you up to professional history. So I started out in the news business. I did television news for 11 years at Kchoen, as well as what's now Hawaii News now, back then it was KHNL. But after 11 years in news, I kind of got tired of it. As a reporter, you're just a spectator telling people what others are doing. I want to be those others and start doing something that was positive for the community. So in 2002, jumped into the shark tank and swam with the sharks, and I've been swimming there 15 years. So eight years in the house and seven years now in the Senate. And my district goes from Kalihi all the way to Aloha Stadium. So the stadium and its future is of utmost interest to the constituents that I serve. But I'm also the chair of the Economic Development Technology and Tourism Committee. And on the side, I'm a big sports fan. So for me, I'm looking at Aloha Stadium. It's in my district. It has economic opportunities. And really, Aloha Stadium gives people something to cheer about. And I'm all about giving some energy to our community. So it's for me, it's a real passion to try to see what we can do better with that 100 acres of land there. Yes, exactly. Approximately 100 acres. My notes say 104 acres. That is correct. I'm not going to argue over four acres, but I think it's great. So first of all, thank you for jumping into the shark tank. Thank you for deciding that, you know what? It's not just about reporting it. It's about being involved. I'm an advocate of more people being involved in the conversation and have always been. So I always appreciate it when someone says, you know what? I want to go help. I'm going to go help in a different way. So I thank you for doing that. And for the years of your service. So what, what house district were you in? I was in, I can't remember the number because it's all changed. Oh, it changes too. That's right. But it was on Waterloo and Salt Lake. So okay, I think that's 31 right now. Could be. Yeah, either way. That's all good. Okay, so that area. And then now it's Senate 15, which includes that whole area, which is plus Cali. Huge area because it also includes OCCC, which has got some things going on there. So I know it touches on that. And then the rail line coming through. So there's there's a big piece of so you're like right in the middle with that economic development tourism area. That fun problem that rail brings is going to be on my front doorstep very soon. Very soon. Well, I would love to have you back to talk about that at a future show. I'm not gonna have that be about today. That's going to be the two hour documentary that we can do that. I'm gonna be thrilled to do that. So okay. So thank you for that. And thank you for your for your service and your time with that. So actually, I want to ask more one more question about your committee economic development tourism and technology and technology. Tell us a bit more about that committee. What sorts of things you work on? What sorts of things that the committee tries to accomplish? Well, obviously, we're about creating more jobs and a stronger economy. But I'm not of the mindset that we're going to just create jobs for jobs sake. I mean, we have the lowest unemployment in the nation. But we know that our neighbors have two jobs that are cobbling together some low wage jobs. I'd rather us have a position in Hawaii where people have one quality job. So my my kind of path forward is going to be using instead of using this muscle which built Hawaii agriculture and tourism, we're going to start using this muscle, we're going to use innovation, creativity to be the model for our economic engine of the future, because we know that those jobs pay a living wage. Those are jobs that are going to be north of $80,000 a year, not more bed changers and bed sheet changers and front desk clerks, not to say that those are bad jobs, but those are kind of service oriented low wage jobs, we really need to pivot towards getting our young people involved in meaningful jobs. Exactly, which addresses the the idea that has been talked about by many about brain drain and that's our number of our kids that leave and never come back. We got to get the brain gain. We need exactly we need to start gaining more and by providing those. So I appreciate that direction. I will also invite you back to another show to talk about that specifically, because I would like to dig more into what that means because I agree wholeheartedly. It cannot be just about a job, because then yes, you end up having two or three jobs just to make ends meet. Some of the statistics you may or may not have exacts on, but some of the statistics I've heard is the poverty line in Hawaii is about $83,000 a year for a family. And in order to just get by as a family of four, you need $120,000 a year in income. That's hard to come by. And with minimum wage even increasing as it is, it doesn't match. So it's really hard. So that's an area that needs some focus. So I'd love to talk about that in the future. So there we're gonna go back to a lot. I'm gonna be on here every month with you. That would be great. I would welcome that. I would welcome that. So, okay, let's go back to a law estate. And then so with that, a lot of things have come up. Now, before the show, we were talking, there was a change recently. So that changes an important change. But as far as a law estate, from its economic value for your district and for the state of Hawaii, what can you tell us about its importance that historically and how it's being looked at from today and going forward? We're at the most exciting time in the stadium's history. This is the most exciting time in 42 years as we built the stadium. And the backstory is that it was actually Navy land. The Navy handed it over to Fish and Wildlife, so it was still under federal control, which then deeded the land over to the city. The city deeded it over to the state. So it's many different hands that were involved. But up until March of this year, the federal deed restriction said it was only for public recreation, which hampered our ability to do economic development there. I mean, we could have turned it into a big park. But I think a lot of us lawmakers saw that you have 108 acres of prime real estate. And we should be utilizing that land for opportunities for economic development, not just have a nice, beautiful park. So it was with that mindset. Parks are great. And they're absolutely needed as well. But I think you need to balance it, right? No, exactly. So it's been a five year effort. People have been asking us, Oh, why didn't you do this before? State your soul, cumbersome and soul, you're moving like a sloth space. And we said, Well, we really would like to reinvent the area. But with this deed restriction, we couldn't do very much. So we finally, back and forth, we did a land swap. The federal government Department of Interior got a park on Maui in exchange for the 100 acres that we now have full title for and a clean slate. And so what's happened this year, that happened in March of this year. Excellent. And a few months ago, the state appropriated $10 million for a law stadium to do two things. One get environmental impact statement done, make sure that we have a good land there. And if there's any trouble spots, we would know about those trouble spots. And also, that $10 million is going to pay for a master plan. What is this area going to look like? It cannot be a 100 acre asphalt with 50,000 seat stadium on it. It's got to be much more. There's much more opportunity available for that, especially with the rail coming through. Oh, that's a good point too. I mean, the city had the mindset that the rail stop at the law stadium was going to be a park and ride. To me, what a ridiculous underutilization of that land. Let's create a destination so that people get off more than six times a year for a huge football game, but there's reasons to get off multiple times throughout the year. So is this being looked at from the transit oriented development perspective? Let's get some businesses there. Let's get some residences there. Let's build up the area. It's sort of a multi-use. That's sort of, I mean, that's the hope. Obviously, the planning hasn't happened yet. The planning isn't yet correct. It's in the work. So we have just all of what you just mentioned all lined up. So the stars have lined up perfectly for us to reinvent that area. And of all of the rail stops that we have, this is the largest swath of public land that surrounds a rail station. You know, some other stations, we have two blocks away, we have this land, but this is a huge opportunity for the state to help reinvent that entire area. Yeah, excellent. What sorts of revenues have, like on an annual basis, has the stadium produced over the years? The stadium has an annual operating budget of $7 million. Its largest less sea is the swap meet. Swap meet accounts for $4 million out of that $7 million. And swap meet has been there for decades. But I really think the state can do better than have it as a home for a swap meet. Yeah, and it's great. A lot of people use it. I've been there myself. And some of it is interesting and some of it is repetitive. So I think that, you know, yeah, I think I could use some revitalization there. So in general, now the fact that it's 42 years old leads to the questions of, okay, is it in what state of repair or disrepair? Is it in? First of all, what can you tell us about that? It costs us about $20 million a year just to keep that facility structurally sound to make sure that the yellow and upper sections don't fall onto the blue and orange people below. So if it costs us $20 million a year, and if we know that a 35,000 seat stadium that's multi purpose would be 350 million, it doesn't take a genius to say that it really doesn't make any sense in putting more money into into the current stadiums, like having a 42 year old car, how many times are you going to change the engine? It's time to get a new and also develop it for you have it be part of a developmental plan so that it generates more revenues for the state, but also more opportunities and more jobs for people, more residences because that's a big concern we have as well. So I think looking at it from that perspective, it makes sense. We should be addressing it in some way, thinking about the future with that. Correct. And we're not talking about just the stadium facility itself, but everything that's going to go around it. So people have to kind of understand that the stadium is going to be the marquee center of this area. But we hope to provide just a lot of opportunities, whether it's retail, whether it's museums, whether it's businesses, housing, I mean, that place is going to be dynamic, not just a parking lot. Really can. Now, what sort of a timeframe are we looking at for that? Because obviously we have to get into the planning phase, but then planning and then building until we've got years to go, right? Right. In my most optimistic, everything's a green light projection. The EIS and that master plan just spoke of would probably take about two years. It's going to probably take another year for us to get the money, $350 million of no easy lift. And then I would say maybe if we're super lucky, in five years, you'll see dirt moving and a new stadium erected. And keep in mind, we're going to build the stadium as if it's planned this way, where the 50 state fair is so that lower parking lot is where the new stadium will be built. We're not tearing down a little stadium until the new stadium is built because a lot of fans are wondering like, well, are you going to just replace the old stadium and is UH going to be playing at Waterloo High School? No, no, that's not going to happen. So they'll be playing while the other stadium is going to be built. It's going to provide us challenges for parking. But that's kind of how we're envisioning the build up. There's actually, frankly, there are challenges for parking already in other areas. I know that when I went to the Pro Bowl a few years ago, I had to park at Fort Island and get bussed over. So there's still parking was always going to be an issue and that actually gives us an opportunity to address it in different ways with parking structures. If you're looking at it from a larger perspective as well. Well, if parking is going to be an issue, that's a good problem to have. That means the UH football team is doing well. Parking is not an issue. We're all watching something else. Exactly. And we want to be watching the UH football. Absolutely. We do. I love it. And so we have about another minute before I take a break. But then I want to get into how we get the Pro Bowl back. We had the Pro Bowl for 34 years. 34, it's something like that, a long, long time. And last year, they were not here and there's an economic impact of that. And I think that that's something that needs to be understood. And if maybe one of the reasons we need to think about what we're doing with the UH in the years to come, or not, I'm sorry, with the state and the years to come is how we get something like that back. Because I think that that's been a big piece. Carl, I agree with you on 99% of the things we talk about. This one I don't agree with. I just don't think the Pro Bowl is worth us dropping five million dollars on. And it's really become a joke. Right? It's become touch football with guys in pants. They're not, they're not whacking each other. They're worried about affecting their million dollar contract. So I'm really not envisioning the Pro Bowl ever coming back. And therefore, we don't need a 50,000 seat stadium because that's what some people say. While you're in 35,000, what if the Pro Bowl wants to come back? Well, I'm not basing it on the Pro Bowl coming back. I'm basing it upon what Hawaii needs. Does it fit our needs? I mean, the Pro Bowl, the football configuration. We need that stadium to be able to bring in concerts, UFC fighting, drone racing, whatever the future. Drone racing or whatever. I want to hear more about that. I'm just pulling that out of there. But it has to be more than just unmanned vehicle racing, drone or otherwise. You'll be at the controls, Carl. That's fascinating. Okay, by the way, I don't, I have no problem when we disagree. We don't disagree a lot, as you said. But I have no problem that we disagree. In fact, it's important that sometimes we disagree on things. So we can talk more about that. And I'm not, I'm willing to hear and I'm never close-minded. So if you can, if you can convince me, that would be great. So thank you so much. We do have to take a quick break. So thank you for joining us again. And thank you for joining us. This is Think Tech Hawaii's Movers, Shakers, and Reformers Politics in Hawaii series. I'm your host, Carl Campania, with today's guest, Senator Glenn McKay. Thank you. See you in a minute. You're watching Think Tech Hawaii, which streams live on ThinkTechHawaii.com, uploads to YouTube, and broadcasts on cable OC-16 and O'Lello 54. Great content for Hawaii from Think Tech. Some say scuba divers are the poor man's astronaut. At DiveHeart, we believe that to be true. We say, forget the moon. DiveHeart can help children, adults, and veterans of all abilities escape gravity right here on earth. Search DiveHeart.org and imagine the possibilities in your life. Freedom. Is it a feeling? Is it a place? Is it an idea? At DiveHeart, we believe freedom is all of these and more, regardless of your ability. DiveHeart wants to help you escape the bonds of this world and defy gravity. Since 2001, DiveHeart has helped children, adults, and veterans of all abilities go where they have never gone before. DiveHeart has helped them transition to their new normal. Search DiveHeart.org and share our mission with others. And in the process, help people of all abilities imagine the possibilities. Welcome back to Think Tech of Hawaii's Movers, Shakers, and Reformers Politics in Hawaii series. I'm your host, Carl Campania. Once again, our guest today is Senator Glenn Wakai, District 15. Specifically today, we're talking about Aloha Stadium, where it is now, where it's going, and what opportunities we have. So let's jump back into that and say, okay, real briefly, as far as my thought on the Pro Bowl is, there's a sense of pride that we have had here in Hawaii with regards to the Pro Bowl. The sense of pride doesn't necessarily mean a dollar amount. It doesn't mean it's economically viable. So again, I'm open to it being not something that continues, but I know that it's a big thing that a lot of people like to claim. Is that more of an accurate statement than it being economically viable? So is that where you're sort of coming from with that? Well, I think Hawaii is a football crazy time. You look at what Marcus Mariota has done, and just really, I never thought of cheering for anything in Tennessee, but all of a sudden, I'm a Titans fan. So you can see how, I mean, the Hawaii love for football, and when we have a local boy does good, I mean, we're all on board the Marcus Mariota train. But in terms of football stars coming here, and really playing kind of an all-star game that really, they're not pounding each other like they would in a real game. So I think we're kind of fake fooling and faking out not just our fans, but just the NFL in general. I mean, they've had many discussions on should they even continue that game because no one really takes it seriously. No one takes it seriously. It doesn't have any actual value. It doesn't mean anything towards anything. People can get hurt. Players can get hurt with it. So those things and recently, I'm sure you're right about 99% of the professional football athletes, former professional football athletes that have been tested, have some form of brain contusion or injury or some issue as a result of the game itself. That's a whole other concern to be to really be dealt with, especially when we think about our kids, young kids, Marcus Mariota or not, our young kids involved in that game. So now I think it's a good topic and it's important to understand the dynamics of it all. So thank you for that. So okay, as far as the stadium is concerned, thinking about what it is used for and what it can be used for with the planning that you're talking about. We don't know what the plan is going to come up with. We know that. But what sorts of things? You mentioned drone races. Okay, great. Lots of possibilities. But what are some of the ideas and what are some of the thoughts that you would like to talk about with regards to the usage of this area, this 100 acres and this facility? Tell us more about that. Well, it's not useful for soccer. It's too small for a full-on rugby match. Here we are in the center of the Pacific and rugby is popular around us. Soccer is popular around us. We should be the north, the east meets west locale for rugby, soccer and a lot of multitude of other events. But we're locked down into football configuration. Because the facility itself doesn't lend itself for uses other than football. Right. And even non-sports activities. I'm trying to work with UFC to bring the UFC fight here and really capitalize on Max Holloway's. And we really can if you think about it because we've got, we now have training facilities, UFC oriented training facilities that exist in multiple locations across O'ahu and I think they're looking at the neighbor islands as well. So, you know, B.J. Pen. Thank you. B.J. Pen. We remember of it. We let it lacks, unfortunately, but we remember of it. It was an extraordinary facility that leads people into a different type of training as well, which is spectacular. So, by capitalizing on that, by realizing that there is an interest level in that. So, that's what you're saying. Bringing events like that, having this to be a destination for events like that. Right. Which are too big for Stenshire, for Blaisdell, but perfect for a stadium but our configuration there is not to UFC's liking. So, we need to have a stadium or a facility there that can handle UFC. Multi-perfect. Concerts. Other non-sport events. Concerts other than at Blaisdell. Yes. Yeah. Right. I mean, wouldn't it be a great if Bruno Mars did one big show instead of five smaller shows at the Blaisdell. I think we just don't have the contrast. All of the above. All of the above. I think doing the smaller shows are great because it's got its different appeal but I agree. Being able to do a large and have that because it does make it a destination. Especially if you've developed the area around a little bit. Now, can I bring up one more thing about utilization of the stadium that is super different and super exciting is we're in discussions with Topgolf and if you're familiar with Topgolf, they're kind of a celebrity, not celebrity but a high-end golf thing. It's more than just hitting balls 300 yards. Yes. It's there's entertainment, there's booze, there's food, there's and so we want to have Topgolf be a part of the stadium. So wouldn't it be neat if when the stadium is dark we just start launching balls and we turn that thing into a golf range and then when the stadium is active they turn into luxury boxes. So those are the and and Topgolf is willing to help pay for build out of the stadium so that $350 million price tag won't be 100% paid for by taxpayers. I think that's great. I think that's great. Now I have I visited Topgolf. Last year I had the ability to visit a friend of mine in right outside of Atlanta, Georgia and they have a Topgolf there. And while I was there he brought me over and said hey let's go let's let's go hang out here let's let's spend some time there and they're great. And it's extraordinary. As you mentioned it's multiple levels where you just sit there and you can order some drinks, order some food, have a great discussion with your friends and drive the ball and there are various targets and various ways to play in that facility in that type of structure and it was a lot of fun. Yeah you can be terrible at golf but it's still a fun experience. And I'm not great at golf and I agree. I'm terrible at golf. I'm not going to go to golf range and show everybody else how terrible I am but I will go and then chip and putt and act like a fool in the fun confines of the Topgolf facility which can be utilized in a luxury box when it's not utilized as a driving range. What I like is that type of thinking. That type of thinking I think is important because it's really looking at it from not just one perspective it's how can we be creative in multiple type uses in multiple ways. So it's not just we're going to build this thing so that Topgolf can do its thing. No it's going to have multiple uses unto itself. I think I like that type of thinking. It's much more creative out of the box thinking. So I appreciate that. Out of the stadium. Out of the stadium thinking. There you go. Out of the park. Out of the park. Oh my god we can go on with puns forever. Out and out forever so okay. Okay let me let me ask this question. I think a few more minutes left anyway. What does the what does your district and what does the community and the neighbors around the stadium think? What are what are they asking for? They're super excited about the possibilities although they want to be part of the of the discussion as to how this evolves. So I have been like prepping them for the past five years because I know in Hawaii that we don't like change that comes quick. We're receptive to change but you got to do it in a methodical whole molly molly bring everyone to the table and discuss it and then you win over the fans. I mean we've seen some others who come in here say like I'm the smartest best thing that ever happened to Hawaii you will buy me ride me whatever me and then they're gone. So I have a variety of reasons. I massage the community and they are fully on board and receptive to having an entire redevelopment of that area. So okay so then so what you have is the local foresight of knowing that okay something's going to have to happen let's engage the community let's include them in the conversation let's get their buy-in basically if we can create this into something that makes their lives better hopefully as well as bring some community pride as well along the line all aspects of that so you spent all of that all of this time talking about and for teeing up basically the opportunity for what is to come and and there's been positive feedback largely? Oh very positive I mean they're concerned about noise and some level of traffic but you look at the concerts with Bruno Mars coming in everything to hear you right right if I live at Crossport I'd be happy I don't have to pay 400 bucks for his ticket like it's like just listen open the window hey 24 karat gold is paid yes he was a little pitchy on that one um so okay well good I think that's also um from a politics perspective from a policy perspective I think that's also one of the keys as well that we don't often hear about and I think that's that's important and that is that community engagement on an issue um holding talk stories holding town halls uh coming up with ways of you know bringing people to a low-cost stadium and saying hey let's talk so once we get into the planning phase hopefully what goes on and I would love to just come and witness and you know it's not I don't live in that district but I'd love to come witness those types of conversations the community engagement conversations to really learn you know what the community thinks and how it can all be shaped together to create something like that so do you foresee those things happening? Oh yep so I'm prepping them massaging them needing them we are ready in that community to be partners I don't think we're going to be obstructionist we're not there's not going to be protests out there but they will want to be part of the conversation. Yeah okay excellent excellent now looking forward to all of that um there there are obviously pitfalls that need to be considered there's the whole range of possibilities not everything is always positive it's how it gets done everyone because of rail and the costs of rail and how that has overrun in some ways everyone's going to be very concerned about what this means so how is it being paid for trying to bring other money in that's all very important so do you foresee it being that what you're obviously talking about there is a public-private partnership do you see more of that as a possibility? Yes what I'm good at is learning from other people's mistakes and I've seen how the city and the rail has gone sideways because why because it's a hundred percent government funded project when you have things of that size you need private sector involvement for their money and for their expertise and so we've learned from rail and we're not going to do rail 2.0 at a law stadium this is going to be rail done in a PPP format which is a public private partnership bringing them into the table and having them lead us and guide us to where it becomes a place where we all want to to gather and spend our money Excellent excellent thank you so much thank you so much I appreciate you coming on the show Over already go so quickly so thank you for joining us I'll look after that in the you're on I'm you're on I'll book you I will book you I would love to have these conversations absolutely thank you for joining us this is Think Tech Hawaii's Movershakers and Reformers Politics in Hawaii series thank you again to my guest today Mr. Senator Glenn Mr. Senator Glenn Wakai very much appreciate the conversation and what we learned today and looking forward to next week and next month and we will see you then take care