Hawaii’s Aloha Stadium was once the spiritual home of the NFL Pro Bowl.
The scenic 50,000-seater arena surrounded by tropical trees opened in 1975 at a cost of $37 million (around $220 million in today’s money).
AlamyAloha Stadium os beautifully laid out[/caption] AlamyIt has been left to rust in the Pacific sun[/caption] AlamyAloha overlooks Pearl Harbor[/caption]It hosted the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors football program until 2020, as well as the Hawaii Bowl and Hula Bowl.
Built from steel, four movable 7,000-seat sections weighing 3.5 million pounds each could be placed in a diamond for baseball or soccer, oval for football, and triangle for music concerts.
The minor league Hawaii Islanders were the major primary tenant but had a nightmare time in the huge bowl.
Management originally refused to allow metal spikes to be used on the artificial turn, which led to an incident in 1976.
Bill Butler — the starting pitcher for the Tacoma Twins — wore metal spikes at the insistence of his parent club.
Aloha bosses turned off the center field lights in response and the game was forfeited and awarded to the Twins by the umpires.
The Islanders appealed to the Pacific Coast League but were held responsible for the facilities.
As a result of the move, many fans stopped making the long trek to the new stadium and attendances suffered.
The Islanders relocated again to the Continental United States in 1988 and became the Colorado Springs Sky Sox.
The NFL rolled into two every year from 1980 to 2016, except 2010 and 2016, for its annual Pro Bowl spectacle.
View Tweet: t.co/ytUKnFWwhb
AlamyAloha is due for an upgrade[/caption] AlamyThe area is set to be turned into an entertainment district[/caption] AlamyAloha has movable seats in huge blocks[/caption]But Hawaii’s biggest stadium, known as the Metal Mecca, had major design flaws that became apparent in its later years.
Steel does not like high humidity, salinity, or temperature. The Aloha State has all three in abundance. Honolulu’s climate meant the stadium continually rusted and needed regular retouching.
In 2007, the stadium was permanently locked into football mode over cost and maintenance issues.
Refurbished at a cost of $185 million in 2008, the stadium made it another 12 years but a lack of maintenance and financial problems caused by the coronavirus pandemic saw it closed to fans on safety grounds.
It now lies gradually rusting in the sea breeze waiting for a development that was first proposed 20 years ago to take place.
Aloha Stadium officials confirmed in May that demolition work should begin in August — one month before the arena’s 50th anniversary.
NFL's Greatest......
Ranking the top 10......
Quarterbacks of all-time – Can anyone better Tom Brady?
Wide receivers of all-time – Does Randy Moss or Jerry Rice come out on top?
Running backs of all-time – Stacking Jim Brown, Barry Sanders, Walter Payton, Emmett Smith and more
Tight ends of all-time – How does Travis Kelce compare?
“They looked at implosion. It was too complicated because it’s primarily a steel structure,” said Stadium Authority Chair Brennon Morioka.
“They just decided to go forward with the traditional dismantling and cutting it apart piece by piece.”
Demolition is expected to cost about $20 million and take 10 months.
The total cost of replacing the arena has skyrocketed to $650 million — almost double the funds set aside in 2019.
Stanford Carr — one of the companies behind the proposed stadium and entertainment district — said the original $350 million projection is a ‘stale number from years ago.’
“You’re pulling at straws,” Sen. Donna Kim told officials at a Ways and Means Committee in February via Honolulu Civil Beat. “Can you get a casino? Can you get money here? There? The reality is: Can you build us a $350 million stadium?”
Brennon Morioka — the chairman of the Stadium Authority — called the higher figure ‘the aspirational stadium.’
“He’s targeting the aspirational,” he said. “In our conversations, we’re trying to focus in on the basic stadium.”
Lawmakers are desperate to avoid putting more public money into the project but developers argue that without the surrounding development, the stadium would not be economically viable.
“You need to develop a stadium at a scale that will attract more venues, entertainers and bring people in for concerts and so forth,” Carr insisted.
Aloha bosses want the new arena in place by the 2028 football season, but the plans have a number of opponents.
While the money men argue, a once proud colosseum is gradually being reclaimed by nature.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( ‘Metal Mecca’ american football stadium abandoned over safety concerns set for demolition in $650 million rebuild )
Also on site :