Game Changer: How the Bozich Center Built Maui Prep's Future

The dream for a gymnasium for Maui Preparatory Academy began in 2014, fittingly, on a basketball court. Mr. Jim Bozich had volunteered to coach his then-third grade son's youth basketball team. Though Carter '24 still had a few years to hone his skills for high school basketball, Jim was already looking ahead to his high school years. “I’d like my son to play basketball. I would love for this school to have a gym.” 

Although the master plan for the Maui Prep campus, envisioned in 2002, positioned an open air gymnasium above where Shoemaker Field now stands, Head of School Dr. Jonathan Silver and Board of Trustees President Dean Otto reported that the school did not have the financial capacity to fund the construction. It was not in the budget, nor in the immediate or even future plan. Undeterred, the wheels in Jim’s mind started turning. A campus gymnasium would not just benefit a future Pueo basketball team.  The girls volleyball team was without an official home court. They often practiced at the beach, on the outdoor sports court, or on borrowed gym time at the Lahaina Civic Center. The school’s musical theater productions were staged in hotel ballrooms and even under a tent on the Lower School Quad. 

A Promise Made

Ever the forward-thinker, Jim surmised that if Maui Prep was to live up to its potential as a premier college preparatory school for West Maui, it needed an anchor for Athletics and Arts, two of its three foundational pillars. Jim understood the solution: the school needed a facility that would attract students and connect to the community. He also had a personal commitment to fulfill.  “I promised my daughter that she would watch a basketball game in this gymnasium before she graduated.  And that our basketball team [only in their second season of MIL play] would play a home game.” The challenge was raised, and the clock was ticking. He needed to deliver a gym in under two years. 

In 2018, Jim was invited to join the Maui Prep 

Board of Trustees as president. Jim set out to design and build a facility that was tailor made for Maui Prep’s needs. “The word I kept using was ‘valid.’ The only way to survive was to build something that legitimized us.” He pledged to lead the project with no debt to the school, funding the architecture and covering any shortfall through his family’s foundation. 

With the “Give a Little Aloha” campaign, Jim assembled a committee of parents and community stakeholders. He chaired the fundraising efforts himself, working alongside school staff and the architect Peter Niess from Maui Architectural Group. He personally designed the gym, collaborating closely with faculty to ensure the building met the needs of athletes and performers alike. The gym would occupy a flat plot of land currently used for student and overflow faculty parking.

One of the most memorable challenges was the stage. When former Performing Arts Director Vania Jerome first gave her required stage dimensions, Jim designed the space accordingly. But later, Vania expressed concerns that the stage was too small for productions. Jim brought her to the site, placed tape on the floors to map out the space, and together they reimagined the design. This meant tearing out the back wall after steel had been ordered and rebuilding that section in wood-a costly but necessary change.

A dream takes shape

On March 1, 2019, the Bozich family, Maui Prep administration, faculty, and students, and community leaders gathered in the dirt lot for an official groundbreaking ceremony. After a blessing, the Board of Trustees used commemorative shovels to overturn the red Maui dirt and officially begin construction. Six months later, the students of Maui Prep were allowed to sign their names to the structural beams before they were placed. 

Navigating permits, meeting with government officials, and handling countless logistics, Jim was on site daily for 18 months, steering the project through every detail. Despite skepticism from some who doubted the plan, Jim stayed the course. “People said I was crazy,” he admits, “but it happened because I was there every single day.” Jim kept his contractor, Ray Hong of 4Front Construction, on task, with the February 2020 date circled on the calendar.

Open doors

The gymnasium opened its doors for the first official Maui Prep event on February 7, 2020, for a sold out basketball game against St. Anthony’s. The building was far from finished—walls still unpainted, with drywall missing in places—but the community showed up in force. “My daughter sat opposite me,” Jim says. “The look she gave me during that game… it made it all worth it.” 

The newly formed Booster Club sold commemorative shirts, hats, and pom poms, while the 7AM Band performed on the new stage, still lacking drywall. The concrete for the sidewalks and roundabout had not even been poured. The sold-out crowd traipsed over sheets of plywood as they entered the front doors of the Otto Lobby.

The final cost approached six million dollars. They raised about two million dollars in donations, with Jim’s charitable family foundation covering the rest. Naming rights for the stage, the scoreboards, the future Wall of Fame, down to the water fountains were purchased by supporters who caught the vision of what the structure could do for the school.

The pandemic delayed, then cancelled, a formal grand opening, but the Bozich Center quickly became a cornerstone of Maui Prep life. The volleyball team, once struggling to win matches, captured the MIL championship just four years later. The basketball team not only won the MIL championship in only its third year of league play, but also won the 2022 HHSAA Division II state championship. The Performing Arts have flourished with over a dozen productions staged in the center, including summer programs sponsored by Theatre Theatre Maui for local youth.

A community served

Although the facility is the crown jewel of the Maui Prep campus, its temporary use as a shelter during the 2023 Lahaina wildfire brings Jim the most pride. More than 600 residents and visitors flocked to the campus that August evening. Though not an official community shelter, the Bozich family had outfitted the gym with cots in case the need for emergency sheltering ever arose. Fortuitously, the concession stand had been stocked with snacks and swag in anticipation of the first day of school, and volunteers began to hand every item over to evacuees. Jim was a constant presence on campus during those days and recalled seeing many neighbors, friends, and community members file through the lines receiving hot meals. A former colleague walked into the Bozich Center, taking stock of the scene before him. “He looked at me and said, ‘Unbelievable that you built this center, and this is what it’s being used for.’”

Jim sees the Bozich Center as more than just a building. It is “mainland normal” brought to the west side of Maui. “Dana and I wanted to make a difference in this community,” he reflects. “I love athletics and performing arts, and this gym provided kids opportunities they would not have otherwise.”

In addition to the gymnasium, the Graham Theater features a professional grade Bose sound system and lights, funded with donations from Marcia Lucas and the Levy Family Foundation. The building also has two locker and changing rooms, a prep kitchen and concession stand, athletic administration and training offices, and the multipurpose Chin Studio with a professional grade dance floor. The gym has hosted concerts, sports tournaments, and served as a practice facility for NCAA teams competing in the Maui Invitational just down the road.

Looking back, Jim’s pride is not just in the physical structure but in the difference it has made. “At the end of the day, we are proud of what this has meant for the community.”