Construction continues on temporary school
Goodfellow Brothers operators do site work at the $53.7 million temporary campus for Kamehameha III Elementary School below Kapalua Airport in Mahinahina Tuesday morning. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Critical Public Facilities Team out of Galveston, Texas is responsible for designing and overseeing the project. Pono Aina Management is the general contractor. Army Corps Mission Manager Elizabeth McCarty said the project is on track to have site work and construction finished in February. The lease for the site is five years. At the end of the lease the buildings are to be removed and the site returned to its original state. — The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo
WillScot set-up technicians Jose Canales (right) and Norman Gonzalo remove a panel from one of the modular building units Tuesday. The units are to be pieced together like Lego blocks to create 20 classrooms that are 960 square feet, and 10 that are 1,280 square feet. — The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo
Army Corps of Engineers Mission Manager Elizabeth McCarty (left) and project superintendent Nate Scigliano of Pono Aina Management inspect a window in one of the modular building units Tuesday. — The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo
Goodfellow Brothers operators do site work at the $53.7 million temporary campus for Kamehameha III Elementary School below Kapalua Airport in Mahinahina Tuesday morning. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Critical Public Facilities Team out of Galveston, Texas is responsible for designing and overseeing the project. Pono Aina Management is the general contractor. Army Corps Mission Manager Elizabeth McCarty said the project is on track to have site work and construction finished in February. The lease for the site is five years. At the end of the lease the buildings are to be removed and the site returned to its original state. — The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo
WillScot set-up technicians Jose Canales (right) and Norman Gonzalo remove a panel from one of the modular building units Tuesday. The units are to be pieced together like Lego blocks to create 20 classrooms that are 960 square feet, and 10 that are 1,280 square feet. — The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo
Army Corps of Engineers Mission Manager Elizabeth McCarty (left) and project superintendent Nate Scigliano of Pono Aina Management inspect a window in one of the modular building units Tuesday. — The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo
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The new temporary West Maui elementary school currently under construction could be ready for the state Department of Education by the end of February, officials said this week.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is progressing with the construction of the temporary elementary school campus below the Kapalua Airport. The campus is being built to temporarily house King Kamehameha Elementary III School students whose campus was burned beyond repair in the Aug. 8 wildfires, displacing more than 600 students.
Currently students from King Kamehameha III Elementary are sharing a campus with Princess Nahienaena Elementary School students in Lahaina.
The displaced students are being accommodated utilizing a mixture of tent structures and traditional classroom spaces.
When Lahaina public schools re-opened after fall break in October, more than 200 King Kamehameha Elementary School students reported to the Princess Nahienaena campus, the DOE said.
Crews have completed cleaning and grading the 10.2-acre site makai of the airport which is on a portion of land slated for the Pulelehua mixed-use project.
Modular units for the first classroom were placed on Tuesday with more modular units arriving from Oahu, Washington and California.
"We anticipate that the temporary school will be handed over to the Department of Education for furnishing and installation of telecommunication equipment by the end of February 2024," said Elizabeth McCarty, mission manager, USACE Critical Public Facilities Team.
Pono Aina Management from Oahu has the $53.7 million base contract for the school.
McCarty said there will be 10 large classrooms and 20 small classrooms.
There will also be three free standing restrooms, a dining room and food prep areas, she said.
But food will be cooked and prepared off-site and brought to campus.
In addition there will be a community building, administrative building, learning resources building and a maintenance building for a total of 39 separate buildings, she said.
There will also be a basketball court and playground area.
"The temporary replacement campus for King Kamehameha III Elementary will be critical in providing our students and staff with a sense of normalcy and a solid foundation for learning and recovery," said Hawaii State Department of Education Superintendent Keith Hayashi, in a news release late last month.
Pono Aina Management has subcontractors, Goodfellow Brothers, Diversity Resources Group and WillScot working on the project.
"This has been one of the most challenging yet rewarding projects I have ever worked on," said McCarty. "As a former teacher, this mission immediately tugged on my heartstrings."