The days of football games at Hawaii’s Aloha Stadium seem to be drawing to an end, and doing so much sooner than many expected. The Honolulu stadium had been the home of the University of Hawaii Rainbow Warriors since its construction in 1975; it had also hosted the Hawaii high school state championships since then, and hosted the NFL’s Pro Bowl from 1980-2016 (except in 2010 and 2015). But now, as per a report from Christian Shimabuku of Honolulu Fox/CW affiliate KHON2, the stadium may never host a game with fans again:
When the University of Hawaii football team walked off the Aloha Stadium turf following a 38-21 win over UNLV last Saturday, little did the Rainbow Warriors know that they could be saying goodbye to their home for good.
Sources tell KHON2 that Aloha Stadium has been deemed unsafe to hold crowds of any manner and is facing condemnation.
There is some uncertainty with this, as the stadium authority put out a statement after the KHON report saying they’re implementing a moratorium on new events, but citing COVID-19 rather than structural issues. Here’s that statement:
AIEA, HAWAII (December 17, 2020) – The Aloha Stadium Authority announced its decision today to reduce operations and place a moratorium on new events at the Stadium. These changes are being adopted in response to COVID-19 safety restrictions that have severely limited revenue generation opportunities. Events that were reserved prior to today’s decision will be honored and activities in the parking lot will continue, including the drive-through Christmas display and Swap Meet & Marketplace.
“It is with a heavy heart that we make this difficult decision,” said Ross Yamasaki, Chair of the Stadium Authority. “Aloha Stadium has been expending its reserves to maintain operations since COVID-19 restrictions began. Unfortunately, we have reached a stage where we can no longer afford to continue these expenditures. It is our hope that we can find a long-term solution but for now, must make these changes to reduce expenses and generate revenue through activities in the parking lot and events that have already been booked.”
Aloha Stadium will remain closed, in accordance with COVID-19 response recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Hawaii State Department of Health (DOH) to establish social distancing protocols limiting large gatherings. As notifications are updated closures and reopening dates are subject to change.
As noted there, the swap meets are set to continue (on Saturdays and Sunday), as will some other already-scheduled events without fans (including the college football all-star Hula Bowl game on Jan. 30). And if this is really about economics rather than structural issues (the authority told KHON “The Stadium Authority has been clear the moratorium on new events within the stadium bowl are not related to structural issues. Rather, this difficult decision has been made due to economic conditions stemming from COVID-19 safety restrictions as noted in the release”), perhaps something can be worked out ahead of Hawaii’s fall 2020 season.
But if the structural issues Shimabuku cited are actually what’s at issue here, that’s a problem for the Rainbow Warriors. There’s a steep dropoff from Aloha Stadium’s capacity of 50,000 fans to the less than 5,000 capacity at Clarence T.C. Ching Stadium on the main Hawaii at Manoa campus, the next largest stadium on Oahu. And while Hawaii does have a new stadium in the works with a projected capacity of 30,000-35,000 fans, it’s not projected to be ready until at least 2023. That led to a statement from UH-Manoa athletic director David Matlin, which Shimabaku relayed:
“We are beyond disappointed of the news at today’s announcement from the Aloha Stadium Authority that there will be no further events in the current stadium with fans,” said Matlin. “Aloha Stadium has such a storied history and carries so many memories for our football program and generations of Hawai‘i families. We must now take responsibility ourselves to find a suitable venue for our Rainbow Warriors, Hawaiʻi’s football team, to play in front of our loyal fans beginning in 2021.”
So it’s going to be interesting to see how this story develops, and what that means for Hawaii football in 2021.
[KHON2; photo from Wikipedia]
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