has a new heart. It¡¯s a place for students to gather, collaborate, study and learn. A three story, 69-thousand square foot named Hale La?akea or Hall of Enlightment.
¡°I love it,¡± said Windward student Gianna Malia Maugeri. ¡°It¡¯s beautiful.¡±
¡°I¡¯m stoked on it,¡± agreed fellow student Dallas Morgan. ¡°It¡¯s a really good experience.¡±
¡°It means a lot because now I have an actual place to study because our old library was so small and it just didn¡¯t feel right,¡± said Windward student Kayleen Sur.
¡°When students walk in here, they¡¯ve got that look of wonderment and amazement and just the sheer delight of knowing that we are really in college now,¡± said Windward Chancellor Doug Dykstra.
Construction started in 2010 and Hale La?akea was opened at the start of the 2012 fall semester. A blessing and grand opening was held to mark the completion of the 22 million dollar project, which replaced an 80-year old structure. Now the college¡¯s library, computing services, media center and student services and labs that used to be scattered across the campus are all in one, very impressive building.
¡°A lot of us put a lot of hard work, our energy and we built this beautiful structure and we have a place for students to learn and study,¡± said Windward Head Librarian Nancy Heu.
The project was a decades old dream first conceived when libraries were quiet, strict places. Hale La?akea is a contemporary learning environment with it¡¯s own coffee shop.
¡°It¡¯s amazing. I actually got a caramel frappe today and it just feels way better,¡± said Morgan. ¡°You know the library before was nice but it was really tiny and there is so much room here so it feels great.¡±
¡°Now we have this place where we could focus more, we have a bunch of computers, the printer is all set for us and the coffee shop so it¡¯s pretty great,¡± agreed Sur.
The library also has longer hours now and is the first green library in the University of Hawai?i System with photovoltaic panels, a design that uses the natural light and much, much more. 80 percent of the building it replaced was recycled and much of it was reused in Hale La?akea.
¡°The benches are recycled. and everything is recycled and I see recycling upstairs, it¡¯s awesome,¡± said Maugeri.
Administrators say this is just a beginning. The college hopes that the Hale La?akea is a magnet that brings the community to the campus as Windward looks to continue to expand it programs and facilities for things like Hawaiian Studies and biotechnology.
¡°We also want to get in on the ground floor on sustainable agriculture, aquaponics,¡± said Dykstra.
Another dream that will one day become a reality¡like Hale La?akea.