Tropical agriculture facility in Hilo being renovate

By DAVE SMITH
Tribune-Herald staff writer

With three facilities representing an investment of more than $80
million, Hilo's Komohana Street is becoming a hotbed of agricultural
research.

The latest project involves a $14.5 million renovation of the Komohana
Agricultural Complex, the local headquarters for the University of
Hawaii at Manoa's College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources.

The complex is across the street from two federal facilities under
construction, the $60 million Pacific Basin Agricultural Research Center
and the $7 million Institute for Pacific Island Forestry.

As part of the renovation, the complex is being renamed the Komohana
Research and Extension Center, partly to reflect its role as the home of
CTAHR's Cooperative Extension Service in East Hawaii.

Gov. Linda Lingle last week released $1.6 million to fund the design
work on the renovation of the building frequently used for a variety of
community meetings.

When it was first built in the late 1970s, the Komohana facility was
home to both UH-Manoa offices and research, as well as Hawaii Community
College's agriculture programs. In preparation for its renovation, a
swap was made involving facilities at both HCC and University of Hawaii
at Hilo.

The HCC programs, which used four large classrooms at Komohana, have
moved to the community college's Manono Street campus. That leaves space
at Komohana for CTAHR operations, once at the Beaumont Agricultural
Research Center on the UHH campus.

To make room at HCC, UHH is taking over the Beaumont buildings, at least
part of which will eventually be replaced by a new science building.

Wayne Nishijima, CTAHR's Big Island administrator, said the work will
involve gutting the 19,000-square-foot Komohana complex so it can be
refitted with new laboratories and offices.

"The entire facility will be renovated," he said.

The extension service is the community outreach arm for UH's
agricultural program, providing a variety of assistance for farmers and
ranchers at its offices at Komohana and in Waimea and Kainaliu. It
provides advice on such subjects as pesticide use, propagation and
fertilization.

"The role of the extension service is really to transfer the technology
from the research level to what the farmers can use," Nishijima said.

The Komohana complex also is home to research on the coqui frog, as well
as 4-H activities and the volunteer Master Gardener program. Nishijima
said its scientists sometimes take part in research programs with
counterparts from PBARC and the forestry institute.

There are about 70 CTAHR employees involved in extension activities and
research on the Big Island, including 16 at Komohana.

Nishijima said design of the new facility is expected to be completed by
the end of the year. Renovation of the Komohana complex is scheduled to
be finished by March 2007.

On the Internet: http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/ctahr2001/

Dave Smith can be reached at dsmith@hawaiitribune-herald.com.

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