Toyota Motor Sales is paying the University of Hawai'i-Manoa $500,000 to use UH athletic facilities Saturday for its annual dealers meeting, which includes a private Aerosmith concert at Les Murakami Stadium.

The private concert also means public access to Manoa's entire lower campus, including facilities and parking, will be restricted Saturday from 1 to 11 p.m., a measure UH officials acknowledge is highly unusual.

School officials, however, said few students are on campus on weekends, significantly reducing the restrictions' impact.

Under a contract negotiated between UH-Manoa athletic director Herman Frazier and Toyota Motor Sales, more than 6,000 auto dealers will use athletic facilities on the lower campus.

Kathy Cutshaw, UH-Manoa vice chancellor for administration, said the university decided to restrict access to the lower campus to minimize safety concerns during the daylong event.

"On Saturday, there will be big trucks coming through to set up the event and several hundred buses coming through. That's the safety concern," Cutshaw said.

In addition to vehicle and parking restrictions, pedestrian traffic will be blocked, she said.

Toyota events will be held at UH's Cooke Field, Les Murakami Stadium and Stan Sheriff Center, said Teri Chang, assistant athletic director.

SPEED BUMPS REMOVED

The restrictions will temporarily prevent students from using the university's Kahanamoku swimming pool and fitness center, basketball and volleyball courts, gyms and fields, said Gregg Takayama, UH-Manoa spokesman.

Speed bumps on streets in the area were removed by Toyota to make it more comfortable for bus riders, Takayama said. Toyota will replace the speed bumps after the event, he said.

Dorm residents won't be able to use lower campus as a short-cut to businesses along King Street and University Avenue.

Associated Students of UH-Manoa president Christina Stidman said the closing of pedestrian access could inconvenience students.

"Students should be able to at least walk through to get to where they need to go," she said.

However, Stidman said, most students probably won't mind taking a longer walk along Dole Street to get to University Avenue.

The university's housing office is expected to provide a shuttle to take students from the Dorm Access Road to the corner of University Avenue and South King Street. A shuttle schedule will be distributed to dorm residents, Takayama said.

However, Manoa has traditionally been a commuter campus and very few students, faculty and staff use campus facilities on the weekend.

"I don't know how many people actually come to campus on Saturday," Takayama said. "It's very few. We don't have a lot of traffic on Saturday."

Cutshaw said this is the first time she can recall the university closing an area of this size for a private event.

ATHLETICS GETS FEE

The half-a-million dollar rental fee is expected to go to the UH athletic department, Takayama said. He said the department will decide how to use the money.

Some faculty members questioned why the athletic department was allowed to rent campus facilities and keep the revenue.

"If the athletic department gets to keep the income, who made that decision and why? I'd like to know who built the facilities, who maintains the facilities and who is allowed to reap the benefits?" said zoology professor Steven Robinow.

Toyota had tried last year to book the Hawai'i Convention Center for the event. However, because of scheduling conflicts, convention center officials asked the university if it could rent its facilities, said Takayama.

"To try to be of help to the convention center and not lose the potential convention, we stepped in," he said.

The UH athletic department negotiated a fee of $500,000.

"It's a fairly large usage fee, but that's because it's such a large chunk of campus that is being used," Takayama said.

There's a long-standing UH Board of Regents policy that allows campuses to charge a fee for use of its facilities. Takayama said the athletic department worked with Toyota to find a time that would pose the least inconvenience to students, faculty and staff.

Reach Loren Moreno at lmoreno@honoluluadvertiser.com.