Talks continue.
The state of Hawaii may finally have a plan to replace Honolulu‘s Aloha Stadium with a stadium-village. Aloha Halawa District Partners is in talks with state officials to design, build, operate and maintain a new stadium with a completion target date of 2028. AHDA wants to develop 93 acres surrounding the facility with the usual hotel, residential and office space plan. AHDP would receive $350 million earmarked by the state Legislature for building the stadium, and AHDP would also be responsible for operating the stadium, and further financing and upkeep of the facility. The Honolulu facility opened on September 12th, 1975 and closed on December 17th, 2020 because of financial issues created by the COVID-19 pandemic and structural problems. The stadium is closed but there are some activities taking place near the facility including swap meets.
During its 45-year run, the stadium was the home of the University of Hawai’i Rainbow Warriors, and hosted 35 National Football League Pro Bowl games from 1980 through 2016. The World Football League’s Hawaiians franchise performed there in 1975 and the stadium was the last place where the WFL snapped a football. Minor League Baseball’s Hawaii Islanders of the Pacific Coast League used the place from 1976 until 1987. The North American Soccer League’s Team Hawaii played home games in the stadium in 1977. In 1979, MLB’s San Diego Padres played a three-game preseason series against the Seibu Lions of Japan’s Pacific League at the stadium. In 1997, MLB held a three-game regular season series between the St. Louis Cardinals and Padres at the stadium. In August 2019, the stadium hosted its last NFL event, a preseason game between the Los Angeles Rams and Dallas Cowboys. Hawaiian officials are hoping that a stadium-village deal will be reached by June 2025.
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