Astronomy in Hawaiʻi supports employment of 1,313 residents and had a total economic impact of $221 million on the state in 2019, according to a University of Hawaiʻi Economic Research Organization (UHERO) update.
“
CMS Executive Director
Greg Chun. “The privilege of extending the university’s educational mission through astronomy on Maunakea comes with a deeply felt kuleana and decommissioning is a critical expression of that.”
CSO and
UH Hilo’s Hōkū Keʻa teaching telescope are the first two observatories to undertake the decommissioning process on
UH-managed Maunakea lands. The decommissioning of Hōkū Keʻa is anticipated to be completed in mid-to-late 2023. The
CSO deconstruction and site restoration work is tentatively scheduled to be completed by late 2022.
The 2010 Decommissioning Plan for the Maunakea Observatories, a sub-plan of the Maunakea Comprehensive Management Plan, describes the four-step decommissioning process for the removal of an observatory, followed by restoration of the site to its original state, to the greatest extent possible.