The University of Hawaii at Hilo will receive $800,000 from the state Department of Transportation as part of the agreement forged around the widening of the Queen Kaahumanu Highway.
The University of Hawaii at Hilo will receive $800,000 from the state Department of Transportation as part of the agreement forged around the widening of the Queen Kaahumanu Highway.
The university will use the money over a five-year period to bolster the study of Native Hawaiian archaeology or anthropology, according to documents obtained by West Hawaii Today through a public records request. The curriculum will help add to the knowledge of Native Hawaiian culture on the Big Island, particularly the Kekaha region.
Details on the programs are still thin. Jerry Chang, director of university relations for UH-Hilo, said in an email that the agreement for the mitigation is not yet complete and discussions are ongoing. The university will take academic year proposals and commission up to five candidates to offer the programming. The money will also fund scholarships, Hawaiian immersion charter schools and the recording of oral histories in the Kekaha region.
A 27-page agreement was recently signed by stakeholders in the widening project, which will turn Queen Kaahumanu Highway into a four-lane thoroughfare between Kealakehe Parkway and Kona International Airport. The document details the treatment and mitigation of cultural and historical sites that will be impacted by the work.
Construction on the $100 million project is expected to begin in the fall, following ongoing environmental clearances and data collection surrounding the cultural sites. DOT officials say the project will be finished in two years.