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s Hawai‘i’s only prison for female inmates in the state, the Women’s Community Correctional Center (WCCC) in Kailua serves a vital role in the community.
But with just 50 beds total, overcrowding at the facility was a persistent issue, forcing some pretrial offenders to be housed at the Oahu Community Correctional Center (OCCC) — a facility intended for male detainees — while they awaited trial.
In 2018, the state Legislature appropriated monies for an expansion at WCCC to alleviate these issues and make other necessary upgrades to the aging facility. The project — officially called the “Women’s Community Correctional Center New Housing & Related Improvements” — broke ground in July 2021 with S&M Sakamoto Inc. (SMSI) as general contractor.
Dale Yoneda
Tommy Johnson
SMSI’s scope of work on the $55.6 million project included construction of “three new buildings,” including “Building A, Housing; Building B, Administration; [and] Building C, Facilities & Maintenance,” says SMSI President Dale Sakamoto Yoneda, who also served as project manager. The job’s contract also called for “improved security, fencing, electrical and utility infrastructure to accommodate the growing facility.”
When completed, the project will add 176 beds, as well as create additional parking for visitors and staff.
SMSI’s scope of work on the $55.6 million project included construction of “three new buildings,” including “Building A, Housing; Building B, Administration; [and] Building C, Facilities & Maintenance,” says SMSI President Dale Sakamoto Yoneda, who also served as project manager. The job’s contract also called for “improved security, fencing, electrical and utility infrastructure to accommodate the growing facility.”
When completed, the project will add 176 beds, as well as create additional parking for visitors and staff.
“The primary goal was to provide increased bed capacity at the Women’s Community Correctional Center to house and consolidate the female population currently housed at [OCCC] while also addressing the overcrowding [issue],” says Hawai‘i State Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (DCR) Director Tommy Johnson. “The [DCR] also wanted to provide better working conditions for staff and improve the visitor experience for family and loved ones, including children.”
For a project of such scope, SMSI worked with a team of over 30 subcontractors with a diverse range of skills and specialties, from mechanical, electrical, drywall and painting subs to more niche specialties, like security gates, detention equipment and secure closed-circuit television systems.
Yoneda describes the project as an eye-opening experience.
“Working in a prison environment is very different [from] working in a commercial/retail setting,” she says. “Access to secure areas needed to be coordinated well in advance, specified products to meet the facility requirements needed to be fully vetted to ensure safety of both WCCC personnel and inmates.
Yoneda describes the project as an eye-opening experience.
“Working in a prison environment is very different [from] working in a commercial/retail setting,” she says. “Access to secure areas needed to be coordinated well in advance, specified products to meet the facility requirements needed to be fully vetted to ensure safety of both WCCC personnel and inmates.
“Having never worked within an active prison, the dedication to detail of their security measures is extremely high,” adds Yoneda.
Keun Pak, project manager for Koga Engineering & Construction Inc., who was brought on to perform the earthwork and install site utilities, has a similar perspective.
“This project was a challenge due to maintaining operations within the confines of high-security areas,” he says. “Access to the work area and phasing of available work presented the largest hurdles on this project.”
Adjusting to security protocols wasn’t the only challenge.
“There were a number of post-contract drawings issued that required much coordination and additional manpower,” says Yoneda. “Working to complete the base contract was delayed to accommodate the many revisions.”
Johnson also cites escalating material costs and delivery delays among the challenges faced, along with unforeseen protective measures they needed to undertake in order to protect ‘ōpe‘ape‘a, more commonly known as the Hawaiian Hoary Bat, an endangered species endemic to Hawai‘i known to inhabit the area.
Considerations also had to be made to protect “exceptional trees” — plantings recognized by the City and County of Honolulu for their historic or cultural value, age, rarity and/or size, among other traits — located on the property.
Pak took things in stride, viewing challenges faced by the project team as learning opportunities.
“I tried to keep a perspective that this challenge was a great teaching moment for me to go through, so that I would hope to gain a little bit of that experience,” he says. “Who knows, it may help me and others if faced with a similar situation later on.”
Despite the challenges, all parties involved are pleased with the results.
“The project is proceeding very well and should be completed by summer,” says Johnson. “[SMSI] was able to proceed with their work successfully while WCCC continued to operate its 24/7 operations.”
“We truly enjoyed working with WCCC, DAGS, [construction manager] Rider Levett Bucknall and Nelson Worldwide [the project architect],” says Yoneda. “Everyone pulled together to get this project to where it is today.”
Pak also spoke highly of his experiences working on this project.
“It is much better to be treated as an ally by the general contractor rather than like a shovel,” he says, a statement that speaks to the positive working relationships forged.
Women’s Community Correctional Center
New Housing & Related Improvements
Subcontractors List (In alphabetical order):
Acutron LLC
Affiliated Construction LLC
Akamai Roofing Inc.
Akira Yamamoto Painting Inc.
Alii Drywall
Allied Security Fence Co. LLC
CanAm Coatings Inc.
CB Tech Services Inc.
CML Security LLC
Commercial Sheetmetal Co. Inc.
Commercial Shelving Inc.
Concrete Coring Co.
Gima Pest Control Inc.
Globo Glass Inc.
GP Roadway Solutions
Harris Rebar South Pacific Inc.
Hawaii Modular (Williams Scottsman)
Hawaiian Dredging
Construction Company Inc.
Heide & Cook LLC
HSI Mechanical Inc.
Island Landscaping & Maintenance Inc.
Koga Engineering & Construction Inc.
MAKA Construction LLC
RMH Electric Co. Inc.
Road Builders Corp.
Sloan Security Group Inc.
Swanson Steel Erectors Inc.
Tyson’s Inc.
Unistrut Hawaii (GP Roadway Solutions)
Waltz Engineering Inc.
Window World Inc.
