SWAAAE: Airport News, Editorial Barbers Point

["Pmsgt" <msgt@kokee.hawaiian.net>]

Barbers Point

             The issue: Barbers point Naval Air Station
          has been turned over to the community.
             Our view: The former base could become a
          valuable asset if properly developed.

     AFTER 57 years, Barbers Point Naval Air Station has been returned
     to the community as part of the Defense Department's program of
     closing bases that are no longer needed. Naval air operations have
     been transferred to Marine Corps Base Hawaii at Kaneohe Bay.

     Now it is up to the city, the state and community groups to make the
     most of its 3,600 acres.

     The most pressing need, but the easiest to fill with the former naval
air
     station, is a general aviation airport. This is needed to eliminate the
     dangerous mix of big, fast jets and slow light aircraft at Honolulu
     Airport. The runways and related facilities are already in place,
saving
     the state many millions of dollars. The turnover ends more than 20
     years of searching for an acceptable site for a general aviation
facility
     on Oahu.

     There are a number of other uses planned for the area, which reverts
     to its old Hawaiian name, Kalaeloa. There will be a 333-acre regional
     beach park. The city envisions a 192-acre sports complex.

     The Department of Hawaiian Home Lands is getting 586 acres,
     including the former Navy headquarters, to be used as industrial and
     commercial sites, as part of a settlement of claims to federal land
     elsewhere.

     The Hawaii National Guard will occupy 150 acres, moving out of
     Diamond Head crater.

     The Navy will retain 1,113 acres for its housing complex, commissary
     and exchange, medical center and golf course. The Coast Guard will
     keep its 48-acre station for search-and-rescue helicopters and C-130
     transport planes.

     Much of the land will remain undeveloped for years while government
     and private groups compile the funds needed for improvement. It will
     cost something like $275 million to make it possible for utilities,
roads
     and other facilities to meet city standards.

     If done well, the development of Kalaeloa could be a major asset for
     the residents of the nearby communities of Kapolei, Makakilo and
     Waipahu and for the rest of Oahu.



*****************************************
SWAAAE: Airport News List E-mail Commands
To subscribe to the Airport News List, send an email, from the email account you wish to receive your posts on, addressed to listserv@swaaae.org and place the following in the first line of the body of the message:
 Subscribe airport YourFirstName YourLastName YourJobTitle YourAirport/Company 

To unsubscribe from the Airport News List, send an email, from the email account you have been receiving your posts on, addressed to listserv@swaaae.org and place the following in the first line of the body of the message:
 Unsubscribe airport YourFirstName YourLastName 

If you have problems either subscribing or unsubscribing, email stepheni@cwnet.com

Learn more about the SWAAAE Mail Lists at http://www.swaaae.org/maillist/