West Hawai‘i Civic Center

Completed in 2010 by the Kenoi administration, the LEED Silver certified West Hawai‘i Civic Center is a community gathering place and living model of sustainability.

Located on the corner of Kealakehe Parkway and the Ane Keohokālole Highway, the $50 million, 80,000 square foot Civic Center is a centrally-located home to 11 county agencies, County Council chambers, and a Mayor’s Office. Before the construction of the West Hawai‘i Civic Center, these offices were spread out in separate offices from Kealakekua to Kailua. Consolidation of these offices is saving the County $680,000 annually in leases.

The West Hawai‘i Civic Center was designed from the beginning to be green in recognition of the importance of reducing our impact on the environment, and to reduce the cost of operating the building. Through the collective effort of the staff based at the Civic Center, it is nearly Zero Waste – over 90 percent of the trash from the Civic Center is recycled or otherwise diverted from the landfill. The highlight of the Civic Center’s green credentials – the $1.8 million 250 kW photovoltaic system atop the parking garage – was installed at no cost to taxpayers through a power purchase agreement. This photovoltaic system is now powering the County’s initial fleet of five plug-in hybrid vehicles, running up to 30 miles without fossil fuels.

Built in the ahupua‘a of Kealakehe on a landscape of indigenous, dry-land flora and fauna, the concept of the modern-day ahupuaʻa is the premise behind the cultural sustainability of the facility’s design. At the corner of Kealakehe Parkway and the Ane Keohokālole Highway, in the middle of the Kealakehe Complex Schools, Hawaiian Home Lands of La‘iʻōpua, the upcoming West Hawai‘i Judiciary Complex and Hawai‘i Community College Pālamanui campus, the Civic Center is at the piko of West Hawai‘i.