The F. Garcia Building has served the Paia community as a commercial enterprise since its construction in 1934. Its classic façade style and small scale are typical of family-owned shops of the plantation era that distinguish the retail district of Paia.

The F. Garcia Building before rehabilitation.

Originally known as Zane’s Market, The Garcia family purchased the property on Baldwin Avenue around 1960 and continued to operate it as a grocery market, adding some features to the building including façade signage, scored concrete flooring and concrete block exterior walls on the sides.

When local contractor Graham Monroe purchased the building a few years ago, it had fallen into disrepair. Rather than demolishing or massively renovating the building, the new owner worked with an historic architect to restore and preserve the character-defining features of the exterior and interior, while balancing the need to meet county building code requirements. The rehabilitation retained the F. Garcia name on the facade, restored original flooring and key structural elements, while bringing the electrical and other components up to code.  Solar panels were installed to enhance the building’s energy efficiency.

A unique mural was also added to an exterior wall, depicting the landscape during the sugar plantation era from this viewpoint towards Upper Paia.

This sensitively implemented rehabilitation restores the building’s character and use as a retail establishment, helping to preserve the historic character of the Paia community.

A Preservation Project Award will be presented to F. Garcia LLC and Maui Architectural Group.

The Preservation Honor Awards will be held as a livestream event on Wednesday, July 22, 2020 at 5:00 pm. Please refer to historichawaii.org for upcoming information on how to participate.

By Adriane Truluck, Awards Selection Committee member June 3, 2020

A mural capturing a view of the landscape during plantation days was added to the left exterior.

Images 1-3, courtesy Maui Architectural Group. Image 4, courtesy Adriane Truluck.