UH Facilities Get Donation

May 30, 2008

The University of Hawaii announced a large donation from the Ching Foundation for updates and improvements to its sports facilities. The Clarence T.C. Ching Foundation presented a $5 million donation to the school to help in the renovations of its againg athletic complex. The current athletic field, built in 1915, will be renamed the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletic Complex upon completion in honor of the generous donation. The entire project is expected to cost around $10 million and take two to three years to complete. The state legislature has already earmarked $1.2 million for upgrades to the facilities.

The first phase of the reconstruction project will involve a resurfacing of the practice field, which should be completed by October. Over the next year or so, the school will add locker rooms, offices, storage areas, and a press box. Seating will also be created, making way for 3,000 to 3,500 seats---large enough for use during local high school football games. Plans are for the new complex to be used by intramural sports teams on campus, the ROTC, the UH marching band and other community groups.

In another announcement, the Athletic Department said it was working on a plan to reduce ticket prices to sporting events at the school. Football tickets (upper levels) of the end zones would drop from $22 to $12 for ages 4 through high school. Basketball season-ticket packages would go from $59 to $40 for UH students and individual tickets would drop for $22 to $18. Both prices would be for upper levels only. Season tickets to baseball season would be reduced from $75 to $50. The school plans to review the proposed changes and make an official announcement in the next few weeks.