Come hear the history of Hōlau Market at this Historic Preservation Month event!

HART’s Planning team would like to invite you to a collaborative gathering with the State Historic Preservation Division, a historic preservation lunchtime event at HART-owned Hōlau Market on Friday, May 27, 2016 at 12:00pm-1:00pm:

He Inoa no Hōlau: Ka Mākeke i ka Mele

Hōlau Market (next to site of planned Chinatown Station)

928 Kekaulike Street, Honolulu, HI 96817

Friday, May 27, 2016, 12:00pm

RSVP at: http://holaumarket.app.rsvpify.com/

HART will showcase a property we own, Hōlau Market, located on Kekaulike Street adjacent to the future site of the Chinatown Station. Within its walls is a unique story of a native Hawaiian woman, Mary Ellen Hōlau Loncke, who in the early 1900s saw a need to bring Hawaiian food back to feed native Hawaiians who worked in the midst of Chinatown and Honolulu Harbor.  She endeavored to bring the food of her people to the specifically Chinese area to enhance the availability of familiar food to Hawaiians, an allegory and parallel to the ongoing grassroots efforts taking shape now a hundred years later to return to traditional Hawaiian diets and cultural connections through food.

Beyond the story of female indigenous entrepreneurship is another story to tell, that of the wealth of information and historical documents that shaped the research of this property.  HART’s Planning team utilized resources often overshadowed in western-focused research and delved into a Hawaiian language newspapers and personal ‘ohana oral histories.  Through the discovery of research, a Hawaiian mele composed by noted “Hawaiian Songbird” Lena Machado emerged – a tribute to the market upon its opening day, simply called “Hōlau.”

HART will conduct standard Hawaiian protocol, tell the story of Hōlau Market, discuss research methods and sources, showcase the architecture of the building, and conclude with a hula performance of “Hōlau” as sung by original artist and composer Lena Machado with kumu hula Ed Collier’s Hālau O Nā Pua Kukui, who has personal recollections of the market in its finery.

We expect to engage with members of Honolulu’s historic preservation community as well as architects, planners, and cultural historians through this event.  Through this community engagement, we have an opportune time to discuss the history of the region and the building and what can be expected for its positive future.

Since Hōlau Market was designed to return to the Hawaiian food basics of fish and poi, we are offering a modern take on this classic combination with poke bowls for sale from Ono Seafood for you to enjoy.  The cost will be $8 and it will include a drink; indicate your interest in the online RSVP located above.

Jon Y. Nouchi | Deputy Director, Planning and Environmental | Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation (HART)