It's amazing how pipes can rust quietly in the Manoa mist, how paint can peel for years without intervention, and then suddenly everyone's in a lather to fix them.

Not that this determination to upgrade the decaying buildings at the University of Hawai'i's main campus is a bad thing.

But the state needs to be careful to maintain a sense of balance about allocating taxpayer funds in a lean budgetary year. Private funds should supplement tax dollars to pay for key repairs.

The Democratic leadership of the state Legislature has placed the reduction of the UH repair and maintenance backlog near the top of the list of priorities in the just-begun lawmaking session.

No surprise. Aging infrastructure had been among June Jones' chief complaints when he decided to leave his UH coaching post. So the word "facilities" has been on the tip of a lot of wagging tongues around the Islands.

Gov. Linda Lingle has asked the Legislature for $50 million for repair and maintenance projects throughout the UH system next fiscal year.

Although that hardly sounds like enough, it would be impossible to erase the UH problem in the short term.

Manoa Chancellor Virginia Hinshaw has estimated that deferred maintenance on the flagship campus alone will cost around $400 million to correct.

That's a frightening figure, but here's a thought that's equally scary: Other deserving initiatives may be dropped.

A 10-year commitment to early-childhood education funding was supposed to have been in the House-Senate joint package of bills, but some lawmakers say they need more details and clarity on its estimated $170 million cost.

If there's that much political will arrayed behind UH facilities, let's hope there's some left for education. Lawmakers shouldn't focus only on issues that grab the headlines.

On the issue of campus repairs, bond financing can extend the effort beyond the reach of available state cash, but private donations also must be tapped.

A successful drive by the University of Hawai'i Foundation (see box) could help the university with some of its urgent repairs, and there is the potential for creativity in getting the job done.

The ultimate example: The $25 million gift from real estate entrepreneur Jay Shidler to the UH business college that now bears his name. Part of that 2006 gift — the foundation's biggest ever — was a $1 million renovation that was a gift-in-kind.

The foundation could seek out similar in-kind donations, as well as the cash equivalents.

The administration of the business college itself solicited the donation, striking the mother lode in the generosity from Shidler, a business school graduate who gave back to his alma mater.

That kind of initiative could be replicated to some degree in other schools on the Manoa campus. Business schools commonly attract the lion's share of such gifts, but other avenues are available.

The state should explore public-private partnerships, in which a private company shoulders the cost of a renovation in exchange for tax credits or other incentives.

Greater autonomy is needed for this to work, too. Last year's legislation giving the university more freedom to take real estate opportunities that come up was a step in that direction.

Ultimately, the upkeep of the university's physical plant has to remain the state's responsibility, and regular maintenance will need to be factored into operating budgets to a greater extent than it's been in the past.

The university will need to behave more like the condominium dweller who pays into a fund for regular repairs and maintenance and less like a homeowner who does little maintenance until the roof starts springing leaks.