David Y. Ige

The University of Hawai’i Community College System is pleased to announce that the Culinary Institute of the Pacific at Diamond Head will be breaking ground in a ceremony on September 8, 2015, at 10 a.m. on the site formerly occupied by the Cannon Club at Diamond Head.

WHAT:  Culinary Institute of the Pacific groundbreaking ceremony with honored guests followed by a reception. The ceremony will commence a $25 million first phase construction on the 7.878-acre site that includes four single story buildings, outdoor cooking area, landscaping, first of two parking lots and all of the offsite utility infrastructure (e.g., electrical, water, sewer and gas) for the entire project.

WHO:   Speakers include Hawai’i State Governor David Ige, UH Board of Regents Chair Randy Moore, UH President David Lassner, UH Vice President for Community Colleges John Morton, Culinary Institute of the Pacific Director Conrad Nonaka, Chef Roy Yamaguchi, Chef Alan Wong and student representative Tiffanie Masutani. Blessing to be performed by Kalāualani, Native Hawaiian Council. Other invited guests include elected officials, donors to the project, members from the university and community colleges, as well as members from the business and local communities.

WHERE:  The ceremony will take place on the slope of Diamond Head and adjacent to Diamond Head Road (former Cannon Club site). See attached map for directions.

WHEN: September 8, 2015 at 10 a.m.

BACKGROUND: The Culinary Institute of the Pacific at Diamond Head will be a culinary training ground that will rival any in the world, and is uniquely positioned geographically to bring together the tastes and influences of Asia and the Pacific with those of the mainland U.S. and Europe. It will be the home to the third-year advanced professional certificate in culinary management that articulates into a bachelor of applied science at the University of Hawai’i at West O’ahu. When fully built out, it will also house the advanced pastisserie and confiserie courses of the Kapi’olani Community College’s current associate in science pastry arts degree.

The first building will house two cooking laboratories, one advanced multi-function laboratory and one advanced Asian cuisine laboratory.  Other buildings that will be constructed in the first phase are the locker room/restrooms/student lounge, storage room, and support (central plant) building. Construction is expected to be completed by December 2016.