In a couple of years, Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists and support staff should be able to move from their temporary headquarters at Hilo Iron Works and a Keaau warehouse and into fancy new digs at the University of Hawaii at Hilo.
The project cleared its last major hurdle last week: A final environmental assessment has determined that construction of the project poses no significant environmental impact.
David Phillips, HVO’s deputy scientist in charge, said construction is set to start this summer, with completion expected within 26 months.
In addition to the two-story, 60,000-square-foot facility on state land at the intersection of Komohana and Nowelo streets in Hilo, there also will be a field building “for volcano monitoring and response” within Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, according to Phillips.
“The total budget for the two of them together, and it’s a range, is between $86 million and $93 million for both buildings,” Phillips said, adding that funding came from the Disaster Relief Act of 2019.
The architectural plans were drawn up by AHL Architects Hawaii, while fellow Honolulu firm Hensel Phelps has been chosen as contractor for the facility’s construction.
HVO was forced into its temporary headquarters after earthquake damage rendered its prior site near the precipice of Halema‘uma‘u crater in HVNP unsafe.
“Compared to the old building, the new building that we’ll have will have state-of-the-art laboratories that are dedicated for current needs in science applications,” Phillips said. “The building that we were in before is from the mid-1980s, so there’s several decades worth of innovation as far as work spaces and needs for the facilities, now.
“We’re very grateful to have our temporary facilities, but they’re spread out, they’re not dedicated — people and equipment are all in different locations. Having a centralized location and dedicated facilities will be a big difference from what we have now, and compared to the old building, it’s going to be several decades newer, in terms of facilities and capabilities.”
HVO will share the new building on the 6.8-acre site leased from UH-Hilo with Pacific Island Ecosystems Research Center, which, like HVO, is a division of the U.S. Geological Survey.
“They were also up in the national park, but not at the same location, so they weren’t affected by the eruption,” Phillips said. “Being in this new facility will allow both of us as USGS groups to work together and advance broader USGS goals together.”
The new on-campus building also will provide more internship opportunities for UH-Hilo students, as well as more possibilities for collaborative efforts between UH-Hilo faculty and HVO scientists, Phillips said.
“Both HVO and PIERC have cooperative agreements with the university, so we actually have employees of the university who work with us and support the USGS work that we do,” he added.
Phillips said the new building will meet the guidelines set in President Joe Biden’s executive order of Dec. 8, 2021, for net-zero emissions.
“It’s also being designed to meet the guiding principles for federal sustainable buildings … basically trying to minimize the power consumption and making it as sustainable as they can,” he said. “There will be a lot of efficiencies and zero-emission features that the old building didn’t have.”
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.