Yearly Archives: 2014

Photography: Courtesy of David Croxford Article Written By: Loren Moreno, HONOLULU Magazine What is it? The Neal S. Blaisdell Center opened in 1964 as Honolulu’s first convention center, known at the time as the Honolulu International Center. Encompassing nearly a whole city block along Ward Avenue, between Kapi‘olani Boulevard and King Street, two of the three original structures remain on the site—the Blaisdell Concert Hall and the Blaisdell Arena. At the time, the center was celebrated as the city’s first step toward becoming a major U.S. city. Over the years, the concert hall and arena have hosted the Honolulu Symphony, Broadway musicals, college sporting events and major artists, including Elvis Presley’s 1973 “Aloha from Hawai‘i” concert, credited as the first program to be beamed around the world by satellite. Like many of Honolulu’s buildings, Blaisdell Center comes out of the 1950s and 1960s modern architectural movement, says Gushard, of DoCoMoMo. “On O‘ahu, the built environment is defined by that era,” he says. What threatens it? The property is threatened by development. Now 50 years old, the buildings suffer from deferred maintenance, and the city is creating a master plan based on recommendations from several community and private organizations, including the Honolulu Community Development Authority, overseeing the development of Kaka‘ako. Most recently, the Urban Land Institute said the city has an “iconic opportunity” to redevelop the property. With a rail station planned near the center, the city is also under pressure to redevelop for transit. Curtis Lum, spokesman for the city’s Department of Planning and Permitting, says no decisions have been made about the site. What can be done? Members of the public should make their opinions known, says Gushard. “The government on O‘ahu tends to [...]

Photography: Courtesy of David Croxford Article Written By: Loren Moreno, HONOLULU Magazine What is it? A landmark along Kahekili Highway, the family services building at Valley of the Temples is one of the few remaining structures designed by resort architect George Pete Wimberly. The building was designed to mimic a Native Hawaiian heiau, using the tools of modern architecture, including its expressive skyward arch. The building serves as the headquarters for Valley of the Temples’ administrative staff. Wimberly’s work has not survived well in the face of urban development, particularly because his work was so “exuberant and odd,” says Mike Gushard, president of the Hawai‘i chapter of DoCoMoMo (Documentation and Conservation of the Modern Movement). But that’s what makes it work worth saving, hesays. “It’s a building that could only exist in Hawai‘i.” What threatens it? Valley of the Temples, now owned by NorthStar Memorial Group, is considering demolishing the building to replace it with a mortuary and crematorium, according to information provided to both the Historic Hawai‘i Foundation and the state Historic Preservation Division. Mark Gilmore, the cemetery’s area operations director, was unwilling to confirm or deny the plans. Faulkner says concepts include building a 30,000-square-foot funeral home on the current site of the administration building. What can be done? Because the building is more than 50 years old, the state requires that a historic review be done prior to any demolition or redevelopment. “In that review process, there is a place for the community to say, ‘Give this a second thought,’” Gushard says. At the end of the day, though, owners of private property are allowed to make the final decision.

Photography: Courtesy of David Croxford Article Written By: Loren Moreno, HONOLULU Magazine What is it? After the original wood version of Castle Hall on the Punahou School campus burned down in 1911, the school rebuilt it in 1913 as its new girls’ dormitory. Both the original and replacement version were funded by Mary Tenney Castle, the wife of Samuel Northup Castle, founder of Castle & Cooke and original trustee of Punahou School. While it is no longer used as a dormitory, the building has been at the center of hundreds of Punahou alumni’s academic careers, including President Barack Obama. Its status as an iconic structure for Punahou School is demonstrated in its appearance on the school’s Christmas ornament last year. What threatens it? Punahou School declined to comment on this story, but the school’s board of trustees approved a master plan in May that sets the groundwork for demolishing the building to make space for an outdoor common area, says Faulkner. The school informed the Historic Hawai‘i Foundation that the building would come down in the final phase of its campus master plan, which is at least eight years away. Mary Cooke, member of the Punahou Board of Trustees from 1968 to 2011, was honored in May by the Punahou Alumni Association. In accepting the award, she called the school’s plans “very troubling,” and urged the board to seek “a qualified preservation firm to help evaluate options for preservation.” Cooke said the building should remain standing as a memorial to the school’s history, noting the Castle family’s connection to the school. “I’d like to encourage Punahou’s current and future leaders to continue Punahou’s long-term commitment to keeping alive our rich architectural heritage,” she said. What [...]

Photography: Courtesy of David Croxford Article Written By: Loren Moreno, HONOLULU Magazine What is it? Thomas Square is Hawai‘i’s first official public park, dedicated in 1850 by King Kamehameha III for British Rear Adm. Richard Thomas. During a ceremony in 1843 on the plot of land now bearing his name, the admiral restored the sovereignty of the Hawaiian Kingdom after British subjects unlawfully seized the Hawaiian government. It was during that ceremony that King Kamehameha III spoke the famous words that would become the state’s motto, “Ua mau ke ea o ka ‘āina i ka pono.” Nearly 90 years later, additional features would be added to the park, including a central water fountain, radial coral pathways arranged in the pattern of the Union Jack and the Beretania Street Promenade, designed by landscape architects Catherine Jones Thompson and Bob Thompson. The park was placed on the National Register for Historic Places in 1972 based on its political significance. What threatens it? In his 2014 State of the City address, Mayor Kirk Caldwell listed the restoration of Thomas Square as one of his top priorities, says Curtis Lum, spokesman for the city Department of Planning and Permitting. “His vision is to see Thomas Square emerge, once again, as a crown jewel and, with the Blaisdell, become a more active gathering place that anchors a vibrant arts and cultural community,” Lum says. While concrete plans have not been developed, one proposal discussed in April includes designing a bike path through the park, box planters and hard pathways. The concepts “were not based on restoring the features and characteristics from the historic period, but rather would erase most of the landscape architecture designed by Thompson and Thompson,” says Kiersten Faulkner, [...]

Photography: Courtesy of David Croxford Article Written By: Loren Moreno, HONOLULU Magazine What is it? Located in Ke‘ehi Lagoon, Mokauea is a tiny, 10-acre island, home to O‘ahu’s last remaining fishing village. Its history goes back to the Kingdom of Hawai‘i, with King Kamehameha III declaring in 1830 that Mokauea Island was a protected royal fishing site. Over the years, fishing families have called Mokauea home, perpetuating Hawaiian fishing practices, as well as preserving traditional maritime knowledge. While only three families remain on the island today, as many as 14 families were temporarily evicted during World War II. In 1975, the state again attempted to evict families to allow for an extension of the airport’s reef runway. After pushback, the families were allowed to remain under a lease from the state that expires in 2043. What threatens it? In the past few years, the state Department of Land and Natural Resources has proposed building the Sand Island Ocean Recreation Park in Ke‘ehi Lagoon, which could include a marina of some 400 boat slips, a canoe pavilion and an activity center. Public information meetings were held on the project in 2011 and 2012, but it has yet to receive funding from the state Legislature, says Deborah Ward, DLNR spokeswoman. Advocacy groups believe it would disturb the area’s marine environment and could potentially displace the remaining families that live on Mokauea Island. “Mokauea is part of the bigger puzzle of the whole cultural landscape of the area,” says archeologist Kehaulani Kupihea, whose family lives on the island. Kupihea says building a marina would create excessive motorized boat traffic in the waters surrounding Mokauea, disrupting the water for fishing and canoeing. The development would not be in the [...]