Maui came in second, with no specific location identified. The committee recommended the facility be located somewhere in Kakaako Makai. The facility’s construction cost was estimated at $29 million. The report envisioned a 40,000-square-foot facility on a 5-acre site with an outdoor performance space big enough to accommodate 500 people and a lot with 350 parking stalls and space for tour buses. The Legislature appropriated up to $160,000 to the committee to complete the work, which resulted in an 82-page report. Linda Lingle signed into law Act 230, which created the Museum of Hawaiian Music and Dance Committee, which was tasked with producing an overall concept for the center, recommending a location, proposing financing options and completing an initial business plan. Plans for the music and dance center, which only exists in concept and has been alternately described as a museum, date back more than a decade.

House Bill 420 now needs to pass final votes in the full House and Senate before it can be sent to Gov.

He said that other entities, other than the Bishop Museum, have expressed interest in the project. Richard Onishi (D, South Hilo- Keaau-Honuapo), chairman of the House Committee on Tourism and International Affairs, said that the project’s design is expected to go back out to bid. But on Tuesday conferees representing the House and Senate agreed to a bill that instead strikes from state law the Hawai‘i Convention Center as the facility’s location without naming a replacement. Lawmakers were debating locating the center at the Bishop Museum. The music and dance facility would be a “multi-sensory experience” with live performances, exhibits and educational programming, according to the final report provided by the contractor.īut the Hawaii Tourism Authority, which is in charge of the project, now says that the estimated cost of the center - $98 million - is too expensive and that the Hawai‘i Convention Center’s roof is in need of significant repairs, making it an unsuitable location. Those plans, completed by WCIT Architecture and its subcontractors, envisioned building the facility on top of the downtown Honolulu convention center. Key members of the state House and Senate have agreed to scrap the Hawai‘i Convention Center as the location for a proposed Hawaiian music and dance center after the state spent $800,000 studying the feasibility of the location and coming up with preliminary design and business plans.

Hawaii music center