I have been increasingly dismayed at the direction of the Hawai'i Community Development Authority regarding the Kaka'ako waterfront area.

It lacks the vision for a finished product. Two recent cases in point: the Kewalo Basin waterfront development proposals and the proposed Cancer Research Center of Hawai'i.

The new waterfront proposal by A&B Properties Inc. doesn't serve the people of the state at all — just another commercial development and more cement covering the beautiful 'aina of Hawai'i. We have enough high-end and high-rise condos and proposed ones to be built for more than a generation.

As far as retail space, Victoria Ward Ltd. and its mother company have three shopping complexes right across the street with more retail space in the works. So not only will the new waterfront proposal be a visual blunder, but an economical one as well.

In fairness to A&B and the other developers of Kewalo Harbor, I know there were financial criteria imposed by the state. But the governor needs to take the lead and use this land to better the state.

Tear down the old harbor buildings, but put in new, beautiful civic centers. There is a great opportunity to build architectural gems or landmarks for the state, like the once-proposed Hawaiian Music Museum/Hall of Fame and even a Hawaiian/Polynesian Movie Museum right next to each other.

The University of Hawai'i has at least five separate facilities for marine research. Why not build a marine school/museum with exhibits representing each of these marine centers for all to enjoy?

This would be an educational aquarium and not an artificial reef-type experience such as the one proposed in Ko Olina. This marine center would also complement the new UH Medical School and Hawai'i Children's Discovery Center.

I envision school buses as well as tourist buses (that come for the boats anyway) stopping at these museums. I could see them and the rest of us enjoying exhibits honoring local celebrities such as Mamo Clark to entertainers such as Hilo Hattie or Kui Lee.

Hawai'i has a lot to show to the world besides surf and waterfalls. The children need to see what they can be. The Hawaiian Music and Movie museums don't have to be a Frank Gehry masterpiece, but they should make a Hawaiian statement.

A healthy competition among local architects would probably yield the "Hawaiian sense of place" we are seeking.

Lastly, the HCDA should use the new UH Medical School's architectural design as a model for this whole peninsula. This school represents our local Hawaiian architectural heritage and regional design well.

The preliminary architectural conception of the neighboring Cancer Research Center of Hawai'i is all wrong. The Oregon firm that designed this must be into eco-friendly buildings or green architecture. I'm into taking advantage of our environment in building design but putting a farm on the roof or making it a literal green building is ridiculous.

Instead of competing, the architecture of the Cancer Center should complement the UH Medical School.

We can have another Kapolei with good regional architecture — a public-friendly district with parks, pedestrian promenades, harbor fronts, hula and Hawaiian music and dance, old Polynesian movies and museums.

If I or anyone else would walk in this area with these concepts I would know I am in Hawai'i. I would have a true "Hawaiian sense of place," not a commercial environment like the struggling Aloha Tower Marketplace.

And yes, we can put mid-rise luxury condos there to pay for it all, but in the middle of the peninsula; the water's edge should be for the public. Also the Hawaiian Music and Movie Museums should have their own restaurants and gift shops to pay for the annual expenses and upkeep.

I know Alexander & Baldwin would agree on most of these proposals; they are seeking public input but they are restricted to the HCDA guidelines. So I plead with the governor to step in and change these guidelines and change the vision for this prime location before it is too late.

Matthew B. Locey is a Honolulu Architecturalist (an archaic term meaning an avid student and critic of architecture).