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NFL and college football fans around the world will soon bid adieu to Hawai’i’s Aloha Stadium after plans to demolish the historic venue were approved on Thursday.
Hawai’i governor David Ige signed off on a $400 million NASED (New Aloha Stadium Entertainment District) budget that will go toward the development of a new stadium, according to KHON2 News. Current plans call for the expected demolition of the present-day stadium to take place in late 2023 or early ’24, with the new venue expected by the end of ’25 in time for the ’26 college and high school football season.
Originally opened in 1975, Aloha Stadium is the largest stadium in the state of Hawai’i. Over the course of its 45-year existence, the venue served as the home of the University of Hawai’i Rainbow Warriors, and played host to 35 Pro Bowls from 1980 to ’16. The WFL’s Hawaiians (’75), the Hawaii Islanders of the minor league baseball Pacific Coast League (’76 to ’87) and the NASL’s Team Hawaii (’77) played homes games in the stadium, as well.
The stadium was also the site of four different college football bowl games, as well as major concerts for artists such as Michael and Janet Jackson, Whitney Houston, The Rolling Stones, Bruno Mars and Eminem, among others.
In December 2020, officials shut Aloha Stadium down indefinitely due to structural issues. The venue has remained dormant ever since.
