Home Is Here: A Stadium Full of Moments and Memories

Chad Owens. Photo: Courtesy of PBS Hawai‘i

Former University of Hawai‘i football star Chad Owens shares memories of the excitement, the energy and the electricity he felt walking out of the tunnel from the locker room to the field at Aloha Stadium. “There was nothing better than that. And that first experience I was, I was hooked. You know, I was an addict, and I wanted it more and more and more.”

Rob DeMello. Photo: Courtesy of PBS Hawai‘i

KHON2 Sports Director Rob DeMello shares a different perspective. “When I was a kid… we got here, and I had that ticket stub in my hand. The first thing I was going to do was just start sprinting up that spiral staircase or walkway. The bridges bouncing where, if it was a big game and it was exciting and you’d walk in that thing and you’d feel and you’d be sure that, like, this is not safe. This cannot be safe for any of us. But it was, it was, it took care of us.”

Tens of thousands of Hawai‘i residents cherish their own memories of the iconic landmark, built in 1975 as a state-of-the-art, 50,000-seat venue with movable sections and varying field configurations. Despite its obvious structural challenges, Aloha Stadium was a go-to spot for generations of memories.

“I feel like this venue is as much a part of my life as the house I grew up in,” says DeMello. “University of Hawai‘i football games, the Pro Bowl, the Hula Bowl, high school football, monster trucks, Janet Jackson, Bruno Mars, Michael Jackson, the Eagles … high school graduations, “No Hope in Dope” rallies in elementary school. I came here for so many different reasons, and every time, it was exciting.”

“My dad used to bring me, and I just remember big crowds, confetti, newspaper flying, that artificial turf and rainbows,” says Owens. But there were bigger memories to come. “So it’s the BYU game, 2001, [the one people] talk about, you know, one of my greatest, not just college, but football memories as a whole. That day was a movie. It really was. The energy was unmatched. You know, it was so loud … It was just an epic day. And if I could describe Hawai‘i football in a day, or in a moment, it’s that game. BYU, Hawai‘i, 2001. If I could live in that moment every day, I would.”

Photo: Courtesy of PBS Hawai‘i

Aloha Stadium closed in 2020. “The hardest thing about Aloha Stadium closing down was that nobody knew at the time that it was going to close down, right? You had that 2019 season that was awesome. The last UH football game that was played here in front of fans was the ’Bows beating BYU… I mean how poetic is that? But when people left the stadium that night, they had no idea that they would not be back to watch an event,” DeMello says.

Photo: Courtesy of PBS Hawai‘i

Even as demolition makes way for a new stadium, the memories created within the old one, are forever, says former lead usher Pamela Self. “Thank you, Aloha Stadium. The staff, everybody who came here. It was a good ride. I enjoyed it. Like I said, made a lot of friends, saw a lot of things and just enjoyed myself here. My 47 years of Aloha Stadium was great. I would never change that for anything. Never.”

Home Is Here: Aloha Stadium

Wednesday, May 27, 7:30 p.m.

Broadcast and streaming on pbshawaii.org and YouTube

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Every month, HONOLULU publishes a blog written by the folks at PBS Hawai‘i, the only locally owned, statewide television station in Hawai‘i that receives support mainly through donations. Visit pbshawaii.org to learn more about exceptional, locally produced shows and the most prominent provider of educational and national programming. Explore music and the arts, discover in-depth documentaries and learn what makes Hawai‘i so special. Follow PBS Hawai‘i on all platforms: @pbshawaii