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East Hawai‘i Cultural Center’s Native Plant Revitalization Project

For over 40 years, the historic former courthouse and police station in downtown Hilo has been home to the East Hawai‘i Cultural Center (EHCC), a nonprofit arts organization serving Hilo’s creative community since 1969. On the ground floor, galleries and exhibition spaces showcase the work of local and international contemporary artists while upstairs, an intimate 100-seat theater hosts performances, film screenings, lectures, and poetry readings. Constructed in 1932 and listed on the National and Hawai‘i Registers of Historic Places, the iconic two-story structure on Kalākaua Street has anchored Hilo’s town square since the Territorial Era. Over the years, the paint on the front lanai started to crumble as invasive species steadily overtook the surrounding landscape, prompting EHCC to embark on a transformative landscaping project in 2023, with a grant from HHF’s Hilo Preservation & Beautification Program. EHCC’s Native Plant Revitalization Project aimed to beautify and revitalize the grounds by reintroducing native plants and providing educational resources for visitors and passersby. The new Native Plant Garden was officially unveiled at Center’s Native Plant Pā‘ina on May 18, a celebration that brought together over 150 people with performances of oli and hula, ‘ukulele music, local food, keiki activities, and information about native plants. Designed in partnership with Laulima Nature Center, master gardener Yoga Ida Bagus and artists Sculptural Accents, the garden features native kalo, hāpu‘u, pōhinahina, tī plants, naupaka, and kupukupu ferns in planter boxes, gracefully spanning the building’s front facade. “As you know, how something looks on the outside matters. The improvement of our outside grounds has already changed how people feel about EHCC—from our staff to volunteers to visitors. ~Laurie Rich, Executive Director, East Hawai‘i Cultural Center Rich continues, “The improvement of our [...]

2024-11-12T12:17:33-10:00November 8th, 2024|Categories: Blog|

Caretaking a Historic Cottage in Waimea

By Camie Foster Klum Our family has the privilege of serving as the current caretakers of an 8- by 10-foot board-and-batten cottage in the uplands of Waimea on the Big Island on what once was Parker Ranch land. We are not quite sure how old it is, but we believe it already has hit the century mark. Lifelong Waimea residents tell us that it used to be a bunkhouse or living quarters for one of the Parker Ranch paniolo. It has weathered storms and hurricanes with little apparent impact. Fortunately, although it has been fitted as a workshop, very little has been added to the structure other than layers of paint. I fell in love with it at first glance, and my respect for all that it represents has only deepened over the years. Someone carefully crafted the structure and oriented the two walls with windows to catch a healthy breeze without bearing the brunt of high trades. The windows, thankfully, appear original, as do the layers of glazing and paint. As a matter of fact, the only noticeable impacts of time are one cracked light — and the fact that at some point, someone removed one of the windows and put it back inside-out. I brought photos and measurements to the Historic Hawai‘i Foundation Trades Training Workshop on Historic Wood Window Repair in September, simply hoping for suggestions on where to find replacement glass and to see if I could learn how to proceed with a repair. Through the kindness of the hosts and instructors, I came home with a carefully cut piece of antique glass and the knowledge of proper procedures. Once my vintage Fletcher-Terry No. 5 point driver — the exact [...]

2024-11-01T14:56:27-10:00November 1st, 2024|Categories: Blog|

Preservation Trades Training Workshop in Wood Window Repair – View Post Event Photo Gallery

Historic Hawai‘i Foundation, in partnership with National Park Service’s Historic Preservation Training Center and Kalaupapa National Historic Park and National Historic Landmark; Alan Shintani Inc. and the Association for Preservation Technology Hawai‘i-Pacific Islands Chapter, presented a 1-day workshop,  Skilled Methods for Historic Window Repair, at Building Industry Association of Hawai‘i (BIA Hawai‘i) in Waipahu, O‘ahu. The training presented pivotal skills in the repair and maintenance of historic wooden windows through the introduction of foundational preservation principles and practices, demonstrations by expert instructors and hands-on practice by trainees.   Participants represented a mix of skill levels and experience ranging from professionally trained carpenters to historic homeowner novices. In total there were 23 trainees, five master carpenter instructors, a Secretary of the Interior-qualified historic architect, and three HHF staff members for a total of 33 participants from Maui, Moloka‘i, O‘ahu and Canada. The morning session presented the framework for historic preservation, introducing the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards & Guidelines for the Treatment of Historic Properties. In the afternoon, trainees were grouped by experience level and rotated through four separate skill pods, each led by a master carpenter instructor. The pod themes were: 1) Wood Windows and Glazing, which included glass cutting, re-glazing and putty glazing; 2) Wood Windows & Hardware, exploring ropes and weights repair and use and maintenance of historic hardware; 3) Wood Preservation and Paint Selection examining cleaning methods, use of preservatives and linseed oil and appropriate paints; and 4) Wood Repair, providing instruction on when and how to use penetrating and filler epoxy and other tips for wood repairs.   The workshop was a collaborative effort. Workshop instructors included Alan Shintani, President of Alan Shintani Inc.; Barbara Shideler, Principal and Historical Architect [...]

2024-11-01T14:58:56-10:00October 21st, 2024|Categories: Blog, Events, Events - Past|Tags: |

Eleven Properties Added to the Hawai‘i Register of Historic Places

The Hawai‘i Historic Places Review Board added eleven properties to the Hawai‘i Register of Historic Places in May 2024. Learn more about their history, characteristics and significance. Properties are eligible for inclusion in the register if they meet one or more criteria of historic significance: A) association with broad patterns or events; B) associations with historic individuals; C) architecture and design; or D) likely to yield important information. Bunny Y. B. and Lily M. Y. Wong Residence, O‘ahu Built in 1940, the Bunny Y. B. and Lily M. Y. Wong Residence is situated in a quiet residential neighborhood just above Kapi‘olani Park in Honolulu. The home is significant on the local level under Criterion C as a very good example of a modest vernacular pre-war residence designed in a modern style and well adapted to Hawai‘i’s climate. The single wall residence retains many distinctive architectural elements which were typical of its period, including its vertical, bleached redwood, 12” wide tongue and groove walls, canec ceilings, single panel doors with original glass knobs, sliding windows and doors with horizontal panes, scored concrete floors, and flowing L-shaped living-dining room. The relationship to the outside is exemplified by its use of sliding doors and windows, as well as corner windows and presence of a rear lanai which overlooks the backyard. View the nomination. Cloward Residence, O‘ahu The Cloward Residence, named for its longtime owners, is in the Diamond Head neighborhood of Honolulu. Dr. Ralph B. Cloward was the only neurosurgeon in Hawai‘i during World War II and was well-known for his work treating victims of brain injuries after the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 and nationally renowned for his spinal surgery innovations. [...]

2024-08-30T09:38:46-10:00August 29th, 2024|Categories: Blog, Featured Homepage Top|Tags: |

Designing for Democracy

Hawai‘i Capital Historic District and the History of Postwar American Government Centers by Daniel M. Abramson Professor of Architectural History and Director of Architectural Studies, Department of History of Art & Architecture, Boston University I am an architectural history professor at Boston University currently researching a book focused upon postwar American government complexes, including the Hawai‘i State Capitol and nearby 1960s and 1970s municipal, federal, and state buildings in the Civic Center's landscaped setting. In 2023, when I contacted the Hawai‘i State Archives, I was fortunate that an archivist, Carol Kellett, drew my attention to the 2019 symposium, “Democracy by Design, The Hawai‘i State Capitol at 50," organized by a governor- and legislature-appointed task force that included the Historic Hawaii Foundation (HHF), Hawai‘i State Archives, State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, DAGS, local architects and planners, legislators and then-First Lady, Dawn Amano-Ige. The recorded presentations are available on the HHF website and YouTube. Prior to my recent visit to the Hawai'i State Archives, I was thus able to learn from the symposium's impressive speakers and their presentations.  The talks, especially by Don Hibbard, Bettina Mehnert, David Miller, Katie Stephens, and Kelema Moses, feature invaluable information, primary sources, and extensive images about the history of the State Capitol and Civic Center planning dating back to the 1930s; the evolution of the Capitol Building design; and the cast of significant politicians, businessmen, citizens, and architects involved in the process. The Historic Hawaii Foundation's online Capital Historic District story map is also a fantastic resource, as is the booklet by Don Hibbard, Democracy By Design: The Planning and Development of the Hawaii State Capitol, which makes accessible much of the Symposium's content. I was thus [...]

2024-08-09T09:02:14-10:00August 7th, 2024|Categories: Blog, Featured Homepage Top|

HART Releases Public Education Materials for Historic Places Along Skyline

The first batch of a planned series of educational and historic interpretive materials has been released to enrich the passenger experience along Honolulu’s elevated train system, known as Skyline. Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation (HART) produced three items that were publicly released in April 2024: Coloring Book Professional historians and illustrators prepared a coloring book to educate children about local history at each transit station. Featuring illustrations reflecting historical events or significant sites in Hawaiian culture, each page includes a synopsis highlighting the area’s history. The intent of the coloring book is to give children a broad historical knowledge of each built and planned station while fostering creativity. DOWNLOAD Stories Along the Skyline Brochure This brochure describes the station names, the aesthetic column designs and artwork in the first nine stations. It provides details on the cultural aspects of each station and the significance of its surrounding area. DOWNLOAD Educational Field Guide The Educational Field Guide focuses on early transportation and bridges located in Segment 1, which extends from East Kapolei to Aloha Stadium. DOWNLOAD HART developed the educational materials to share histories of places accessible from the guideway as part of the suite of mitigation measures to resolve effects on historic properties identified along the rail system’s route. The project’s Programmatic Agreement (Stipulation VII) includes several ways to engage with the public, especially passengers but also the general community, to learn more about historic events and places. The original Agreement called for all of the products to be complete at the time passenger service began, which was July 2023. However, the construction schedule was changed to open the [...]

2024-07-05T11:54:49-10:00July 2nd, 2024|Categories: Blog|

Summer Reading List for Preservation Mavens!

If you're a preservation and history buff (and if you're reading this we assume you are), you'll be excited to add one or more of these recently published titles to your summer reading list. Happy Reading! Tambi Larsen’s 100 Entertainments of Kauaʻi Published by Kaua‘i Historical Society, 2023 Tambi Larsen was a Danish, Academy Award winning art director who married Barbara Dole (daughter of James Dole) and bought a home in Hā‘ena, Kaua‘i in 1961 where he would later spend several months of his retirement each year. During this time, Larsen decided to visually celebrate natural and man-made settings around the island and thus began a body of artwork he called “One Hundred Entertainments.” These whimsical colored drawings created with Prismacolor Pencils featuring buildings and architectural features and elements from the natural world, are a love letter to the Garden Island. Part art book and part history book, 100 Entertainments of Kauaʻi offers a charming, insightful, and enchanting vision of Kauaʻi's places, nature, and lifestyle. Each illustration is accompanied with a brief history or anecdote written by five local historians of the Kaua‘i Historical Society. Tambi Larsen passed away in 2001, and in 2003, his wife Barbara bestowed the Kaua‘i Historical Society with the rights to publish these gems. Available at the Kaua‘i Historical Society: https://kauaihistoricalsociety.org/product/tambi_larsens_100_entertainments_of_kauai/ Architectural Conservation in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands National Experiences and Practice By John Stubbs, William Chapman, Julia Gatley, Ross King Published by Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2024 The fourth in a series that documents architectural conservation in different parts of the world, Architectural Conservation in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands: National Experiences and Practice addresses cultural heritage protection [...]

2024-07-03T14:59:19-10:00July 2nd, 2024|Categories: Blog|

Mālama Lauhala: Caring for the Cultural Resource of Hala at Niuliʻi, Kohala

by The Kohala Center staff In April 2024, The Kohala Center (TKC) welcomed weavers, artists, scientists, and cultural managers to the hala grove at Niuliʻi, Kohala, Hawaiʻi Island for a co-learning session focused on lauhala. Supported by the U.S. Geological Survey Pacific Island Climate Adaptation Science Centers, the project titled “Lauhala: Weaving Knowledges and Practices with a Climate Resilient and Culturally Significant Plant on Hawaiʻi Island” represents a collective of hala practitioners, scientists, and knowledge stewards. Together, they are celebrating hala (Pandanus tectorius) and envisioning hopeful futures that embrace the ecological and cultural resilience of this vital plant. Ulana lauhala, the art of weaving hala leaves, is an important Hawaiian cultural tradition. This practice is sustained by a vibrant intergenerational community of weavers, their students, and caretakers of the lauhala trees. The craft goes beyond the weaving process to include the nurturing of hala groves, the harvesting and preparation of leaves, and the creation of specialized tools. The “Lauhala” project explores the impacts of colonialism and capitalism on the practice of ulana lauhala and the broader implications that they have on other Hawaiian arts and crafts. Investigating changes over the course of local history, it examines the destruction of hala groves due to human activities such as urban expansion and sugar plantations. Additionally, it highlights the potential for restoring hala through reforestation and revitalizing ulana practices, all while considering the effects of climate change on the future of hala. Historically, ulana lauhala was a widely practiced skill throughout Hawaiʻi, essential for furnishing household needs. However, the diminished reliance on woven products led to a decline in these skills and the cultivation of hala trees. Today, re-engagement with ulana lauhala is fostering an expansion [...]

2024-06-14T11:35:08-10:00June 14th, 2024|Categories: Blog, Featured Homepage Top|

Unveiling the Wonders of the National Tropical Botanical Garden

Celebrating 60 Years of  Plant Preservation and Research "We're all about perpetuating tropical plants, ecosystems and cultural heritage. Our approach is really biocultural and what we mean by that is we care deeply about the relationships between our ecosystems and our communities, between people and plants." ~Communications Director David Bryant (as quoted in Island News, May 19, 2024) Preserving Hawaii's Rare Plant Life The National Tropical Botanical Garden, headquartered in Kalāheo, on the island of Kauaʻi, turns 60 this year. Originally created as the Pacific Tropical Botanical Garden, NTBG was chartered by the U.S. Congress in 1964 as a not-for-profit institution, dedicated to tropical plant research, conservation, and education. In the years since, its diverse collection of living and preserved plant specimens, plays a crucial role in understanding and protecting the fragile ecosystems of the Pacific region. NTBG garden sites include McBryde Garden, Allerton Garden and Limahuli Garden and Preserve on Kauaʻi; Kahanu Garden near Hana, Maui which includes the 3-acre Piʻilanihale Heiau, a National Historic Landmark believed to be the largest ancient temple in the Hawaiian Islands; and The Kampong located in Biscayne Bay, Coconut Grove, Florida.  View the timeline and history. A Repository for Genetic Diversity NTBG's native plant collection is a vast repository of genetic information for rare Hawaiian plant species.  Their meticulous record-keeping and data management systems play a crucial role in guiding the institution's conservation efforts. Through a living collections database, NTBG maintains detailed information on all the collections that come in, which helps guide where to make additional collections to have good genetic representation of some of the rare species. Collaborating for a Greener Future The NTBG's commitment to plant conservation extends beyond its own borders, as the institution [...]

2024-05-31T13:26:08-10:00May 23rd, 2024|Categories: Blog, Featured Homepage Top|

Welcome to America’s Chinatowns Campaign

Explore the history of Chinatowns in the United States through a new storytelling collection and learn how they foster belonging and connections today. The National Trust for Historic Preservation has partnered with Google Arts & Culture and collaborated with over 14 organizations and eight individual artists and creators to create a unique collection of stories about Chinatowns across the United States. The partnership builds on the National Trust’s 2022 America’s Chinatowns Initiative*, created to address a growing need to support historic Chinatowns in the United States through researching and building coalitions for that purpose. "It is long past due to ask what more the national preservation community can do to amplify existing grassroots action to support Chinatowns now and in the future." ~Di Gao, senior director of research and development at the National Trust and leader of the America’s Chinatown initiative. The vibrant online storytelling hub, Welcome to America’s Chinatowns, launched May 9, 2024, chronicles the histories and threats facing Chinatowns nationwide. View the hub HERE. Historic Hawai‘i Foundation is honored to be a participating organization, sharing a glimpse of Honolulu’s Chinatown. View HHF’s page which includes photography by Cliff Kimura, historical interpretation by local historian Gary Coover and documentary shorts by filmmakers Kimberlee Bassford and Robin Lung as part of the collection. Often the gateways for new immigrants, Chinatown’s across the United States are an integral part of our shared history and yet are increasingly threatened by economic challenges, gentrification and development. To draw attention to their history and challenges, the Welcome to America’s Chinatowns collection sheds light on what makes each a unique cultural repository by sharing stories about the businesses, individuals and organizations that live, work and play in our Chinatowns. [...]

2024-05-13T12:06:05-10:00May 9th, 2024|Categories: Blog, Featured Homepage Top|
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