TEACH Development, a Hawaii limited liability corporation formed for the project, was chosen by Mayor Alan Arakawa’s administration through a request-for-proposal process to reuse and redevelop the 23-acre campus in Hamakuapoko that currently sits vacant. TEACH owners and officers are residents of Maui, Oahu and the Mainland, Jason Hobson, chief development officer, said in September. The ownership group could be expanded to include more Maui residents and businesses.

The company aims to preserve the historic administration building, designed by famed architect Charles W. Dickey, and envisions the campus as a place for education, environmental businesses and nonprofit groups, as well as community events, including cultural festivals and workshops. The project is estimated to cost around $50 million, and county and company officials said TEACH will not ask the county for financial help to develop the project but is seeking a $1 annual lease for the campus.

TEACH, which stands for technology, education, agriculture, community and health, held a community meeting Thursday night at the Old Maui High School campus that once was bustling with students from the nearby sugar plantation camps. Attended by about 70 people, the meeting held under the stars in front of the famed Dickey arches got heated at times with some community members saying that the gathering was the first time they had heard of the project and urging the company to slow down the government approval process.

Others were concerned that the project could attract more development to the north shore area, popular with professional and recreational ocean users, and expressed their distrust of developers, some of whom had duped them in the past.

Richard Lucas (center), program manager for the nonprofit Friends of Old Maui High School, discusses the historic campus during a community meeting Thursday. TEACH Development has plans to lease the campus to develop a multi-use educational and events center. Also pictured are TEACH Development Chief Development Officer Jason Hobson (left) and TEACH Chief Executive Officer Mark Chasan. The Maui News / MELISSA TANJI photo

Despite the complaints, most of those who spoke generally supported the concept of the TEACH project, while urging TEACH to contract with local companies and educational groups.

At the end of the meeting, those remaining did a pule or prayer together, which Hobson called “beautiful.”

In response, TEACH Chief Executive Officer Mark Chasan told the crowd that the company is willing to hold up the approval process if the lease gets recommended for approval by the Maui County Council’s Economic Development, Energy, Agriculture, and Recreation Committee on Tuesday. It was too late to remove the item from the agenda, county and company officials said.

The measure before the committee at 1:30 p.m. in Council Chambers calls for the county granting a $1-a-year lease for 60 years. County officials have said that the lease terms are minimal because developers will pay for millions of dollars of infrastructure work.

TEACH officials also said they are willing to wait until the newly elected council is seated in January. Hobson said Friday that TEACH will deliver to the committee Tuesday “the request of the community to defer council approval until the new council is installed — which we will honor.”

But Chasan cautioned that there are limits to the delays. He and other company officers have been spending their own money on the project for about 19 months and holding off on the project too long would put it in jeopardy.

“Nobody will give you any money until we get approval of the lease,” he said. “We can delay, delay, delay. If we get approval of the lease, it’s just the beginning.”

Studies would follow to see if the site is even feasible for TEACH, but they cannot be done without a lease, Chasan said.

“We want collaboration from the community, as this is integral to the success of the project — this project represents an opportunity to transform from fear and mistrust into love, trust and collaboration,” Hobson said.

As for getting the public more involved in the process, Chasan said that the company already is developing a community advisory board and that there will be many more opportunities for the public to weigh in through the governmental approval process.

Chasan told the crowd that TEACH did reach out to the community, particularly in East Maui, via email, social media and The Maui News with meeting and information notices. Company officials were taking direction from the county, he said, noting that the collaboration piece was planned after the lease issues were settled.

At the beginning of the meeting, Chasan admitted to not knowing much about Maui and pledged to work with the community.

“I will admit, I’m the haole dude from the Mainland. I haven’t lived here,” Chasan said. “I need to learn about Maui. I need to learn a lot from Hawaiian culture. I need to learn about the land.

“I’m not here to give a lot of answers yet. I’m here to collaborate and (answer) questions.”

TEACH emerged as the best proposal submitted to the Arakawa administration for the Old Maui High School site, county officials said. Currently, the county pays the nonprofit Friends of Old Maui High School $65,000 to $100,000 annually to maintain and to make repairs to the campus established in 1913.

The Friends of Old Maui High and other groups have proposed relocating to the campus, with plans to preserve and develop the site. However, none of the groups had enough money to make the campus usable, including installing a septic system and re-establishing water service.

Office of Economic Development Director Teena Rasmussen maintains that TEACH is probably the campus’ best chance to be preserved and used by the community.

TEACH’s vision has been backed by the board of Friends of Old Maui High School because its plans carry out the group’s master plan developed in 2007. The plan was prepared after several years of community engagement and local focus groups, officials with TEACH and the nonprofit group said.

The campus vision includes having the administration building become the Patsy T. Mink Alumni Reception Center and the museum for Friends of Old Maui High School archives. Mink, the trailblazing late congresswoman, graduated from the school and was class valedictorian in 1944.

The proposed TEACH Center on the campus would feature technological advancement programs, including in agriculture, water, energy, bio-energetic soil remediation, food systems and biomaterials. These programs would help farmers, food entrepreneurs and investors, the company has said.

The center would be a collaboration of local nonprofits and businesses. It also would feature jobs, education and training in renewable energy, energy efficiency, construction, teaching, health, permaculture, agriculture and water technology, according to information provided to the County Council.

Information about the upcoming council committee meeting and the project can be found at www.co.maui.hi.us/

596/Economic-Development-Energy-Agriculture.

* Melissa Tanji can be reached at mtanji@mauinews.com.