Completion of HVO facility projected for 2027
Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists and support staff should be able to occupy their new headquarters under construction at University Park in Hilo within a year.
Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists and support staff should be able to occupy their new headquarters under construction at University Park in Hilo within a year.
Kalei Rapoza, vice chancellor for academic affairs at UH Hilo, told the Tribune-Herald last week that the U.S. Geological Survey — HVO’s parent organization — “is planning to occupy the new facilities in April 2027.
HVO will share the two-story 60,000-square-foot facility on 6.8 acres of state land at the intersection of Komohana and Nowelo streets in Hilo with the Pacific Island Ecosystems Research Center, which, like HVO, is a division of the USGS. That’s almost two years later than the original timeline for completion of the new facility given in May 2023 when the final environmental assessment was published that determined the project’s construction posed no significant environmental impact.
The project, which also includes a field office within Hawaii Volcanoes National Park for volcano monitoring and response, became necessary when HVO headquarters and HVNP’s Jaggar Museum were damaged beyond repair by earthquakes during the prolonged 2018 eruption of Kilauea volcano. Since then, the volcanologists and support staff have been working out of rented temporary headquarters at the Hilo Iron Works building.
An HVO employee who isn’t authorized to speak to the media about the project told the Tribune-Herald anonymously that the field office is closer to completion than the headquarters.
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“We’re actually able to have some people up there working out of it now, but the construction guys are still there working on stuff,” said the individual.
Both HVO and PIERC have cooperative agreements with UH Hilo and the new building should enhance educational opportunities for students studying earth sciences.
“The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory and Pacific Island Ecosystems Research Center offer avenues for our students to work with scientists, engage in cutting edge research, and fully interact with the community,” Rapoza said. “Both HVO and PIERC work collaboratively with University faculty and students, and the proximity of the new facility to the UH Hilo campus will further strengthen academic and research partnerships, and create additional learning opportunities for students, increasing student interaction with scientists, and allowing shared use of laboratory and other equipment.”
The facilities under construction were designed by AHL Architects Hawaii, while fellow Honolulu firm Hensel Phelps is the construction contractor. The new digs will meet guidelines set in a Dec. 8, 2021, executive order by former President Joe Biden that mandated that the federal government achieve net-zero emissions across its operations by 2050.
Cost estimates for the two new buildings are between $86 to $93 million, financed by federal funding from the Disaster Relief Act of 2019.
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Email John Burnett at [email protected].
