Aloha Stadium
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Aloha Stadium is a stadium located in Aiea, Hawaii, Hawaii. Currently Aloha Stadium is home to the University of Hawaii Warriors football team (Western Athletic Conference, NCAA Division I-A). It has also been home to the National Football League's Pro Bowl since 1980 and the NCAA's Hula Bowl from 1975 to 1997 and again in 2006. It also hosts numerous high school football games during the season, and serves as a venue for large concerts and events. A swap meet in the stadium's parking lot every weekend draws large crowds. Aloha Stadium once served as home field for the AAA Hawaii Islanders of the Pacific Coast League from 1975 to 1987 before the team moved to Colorado Springs.
Aloha Stadium could be reconfigured into various configurations for different sport venues and other purposes, and was the first stadium in the United States with this capability. Four movable sections, each 3.5 million pounds and with a capacity of 7,000, could move using air cushions into a diamond configuration for baseball (also used for soccer), an oval for football, or a triangle for concerts. Effective January 2007, the stadium was permanently locked into its football configuration, citing cost and maintenance issues.[1].
There have been numerous discussions with State of Hawaii lawmakers who are concerned with the physical condition of the stadium. There are several issues regarding rusting of the facility, several hundred seats that need to be replaced, and restroom facilities that need to be expanded to accommodate more patrons.
In early 2007, the state legislature has proposed to spend $300 million to build a new facility as opposed to spending approx. $216 million to extend the life of Aloha Stadium for another 20-30 years. One council member has said that if immediate repairs are not made within the next seven years, then the stadium will probably have to be demolished due to safety concerns.
In May 2007, the state alloted 12.4 million dollars USD to be used towards removing corrosion and rust from the structure.
Located west of downtown Honolulu and 2 miles north of Honolulu International Airport, Aloha Stadium was built in 1975 at a cost of $37 million. It was intended as a replacement for the aging Honolulu Stadium on King Street, demolished in 1976.
In 1997, a three-game regular season series between Major League Baseball's St. Louis Cardinals and San Diego Padres was held at this stadium.
In 2003, the stadium surface was changed from AstroTurf to FieldTurf.
Aloha Stadium has also been used for large-scale concerts, including The Police in their final US concert on their Synchronicity Tour in 1984, The Rolling Stones on their Bridges to Babylon Tour in 1998, Celine Dion on her Let's Talk About Love Tour in 1999, and the final shows of Mariah Carey's Butterfly World Tour in 1998, the final stops on U2's Vertigo Tour in 2006 and Janet Jackson's All for You Tour in 2002, which was broadcast on HBO.
