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As the Kohala Koboji Shingon Mission closes in on its centennial anniversary, the Kapa‘au congregation has taken steps to repair and preserve the historic campus. The building complex—including the temple, community hall, priest’s cottage and community kitchen—dates to 1924. The historic temple on Hawai‘i Island has served the Kohala community with both church services and community events, including hosting the Aikido Dojo Club since 1995 and continuing traditional ceremonial events such as O-Bon and mochi making. However, the ravages of termites and weather caused leaks and damage to roofs, walls and flooring for all of the buildings. Coupled with the inability to gather during the Covid-19 pandemic, the congregation was concerned with the ability to use the property for future generations. The mission feared that without significant funding and immediate aid, the buildings would be lost. A historic preservation grant from the Freeman Foundation in cooperation with Historic Hawai‘i Foundation has helped to stabilize and repair the temple, making it usable and safe for continuing church services, community gathering and educational events. “The impact on the community is positively stimulating and greatly appreciated. To everyone’s relief, church members have not had to come regularly to the temple and empty buckets of rainwater due to the excessive roof and wall leaks, as well as having to navigate around the rotted deteriorated open flooring.” - Eugene Amar, Jr., Director of the Board, Kohala Koboji Shingon Mission The weathered Shingon symbols (mon) on the front façade of the Kohala Koboji Mission were replaced, matching the original design. All photos courtesy Kohala Koboji Mission. The project included termite tenting for all four buildings and repairs to the temple. The temple received a new roof, partials walls and floors, [...]

Historic Hawai‘i Foundation’s new initiative to partner with Native Hawaiian Organizations  (NHO) on hands-on stewardship training for historic and cultural properties has reached a significant milestone with selection of the first cohort of partners. HHF established the stewardship training program in 2021 through a partnership with the U.S. Department of the Interior’s National Park Service and Office of Native Hawaiian Relations, with funding through the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Additional funding is provided by the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority through a Kūkulu Ola grant for Native Hawaiian culture. The program objectives are to build capacity of NHOs towards historic preservation and stewardship with the goal of ensuring that their traditional cultural stories and places are being documented, preserved and shared in an appropriate manner with visitors and residents alike. “Starting up a new program, especially with federal funds and partners, has to be done systematically and deliberately,” said Kiersten Faulkner, executive director of Historic Hawai‘i Foundation. “We started with listening sessions to get a sense of the sites, the preservation needs and the landscape of NHOs working in cultural stewardship. That informed our decision to have a two-step selection process, first with an open Request for Expressions of Interest, followed by an invitation-only Request for Proposal.” Both the Expressions of Interest and the Proposals were evaluated and ranked by a program committee of HHF Trustees. Committee members include Maenette Ah Nee Benham, Allen Hoe, Donne Dawson, Lehua Kauhane and Kawika McKeague as well as ONHR staff members Stanton Enomoto and Lisa Oshiro Suganuma and NPS director of preservation partnerships Elaine Jackson-Retondo. “We had submittals from every island and for all types of historic and cultural properties, including sacred sites like heiau, places associated with food-ways like [...]

Kahu Rennie Mau in front of the Parish Hall at ‘Ewa Community Church ‘Ewa Community Church is located on Renton Road within the ‘Ewa Sugar Plantation Villages, a district listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Villages is significant for its association with ‘Ewa Sugar Plantation, which played an influential role in Hawai‘i’s economy, culture, and politics throughout most of the twentieth century. It is also significant as an historic district for its vernacular architecture. The district includes the Verona, Tenney, and Renton Villages, which formerly provided worker housing for the ‘Ewa Sugar Plantation. Each of the distinct villages (eight total) was expressive of different cultures and ethnic groups, and had its own architectural and landscaping. ‘Ewa Community Church was built in 1937. A Parish Hall was added in 1951 and the church was expanded in 1956 in response to a growing post-war congregation. The Reverend Paul S. Osumi, remembered for “Today’s Thought,” a daily column in The Honolulu Advertiser, led the congregation at that time. Today the church remains a vital part of the surrounding community and is currently home to the United Church of Christ congregation. HHF has had a number of opportunities to assist in preserving the property. The Foundation staff recently interviewed the current minister, Kahu Rennie Mau, to learn more about him and the present role of the church in the community. Historic Hawai‘i Foundation: Tell us a little about yourself—where are you from, what are your interests and hobbies? Kahu Rennie Mau: I grew up in Hawai‘i on the island of O‘ahu living on the Windward side in Kailua at Coconut Grove and then later in Maunawili Valley. I went to St. Louis High [...]

Historic Universal Building/Dearborn Project An unexpected discovery leads to the revitalization of a prominent building in Kaka‘ako and a new easement promises its preservation in perpetuity. By Sara Lin and Francine Murray, Hawai‘i Community Development Authority The altered façade with the attached retail fronts of the Universal Building. In architecture, the fenestration, or placement of the windows, doors and skylights greatly affect the look, feel and function of a building or structure. “We were all surprised to learn that many of the original glass windows were still there, hidden behind interior walls or framing,” said Kiersten Faulkner of Historic Hawai‘i Foundation (HHF) about the Universal Building on Ward Avenue. In 2018, an application was submitted to HCDA, requesting to renovate and restore the historic Building to its original grandeur - the 1928 Dearborn Chemical Company Warehouse. “The project was able to refurbish and restore the original fenestration and window patterns, bringing natural light and openness to the space,” said Faulkner. “The historic windows were also used as the pattern for replica windows and fenestration when they restored the Ward Avenue façade that had been covered with an addition in the 1960s. The windows are the light and soul of the building.” The rehabilitated windows vastly improved the look and feel of the interior space; photo courtesy Dearborn LLC In 2018, the project’s historic architect contacted HHF to let them know that the building had been purchased by an owner interested in and committed to preserving the property. “HHF agreed to accept the preservation easement and to review any modifications for consistency with preservation standards,” Faulkner explained. “Preservation easements are a tool to ensure that the historic building, site, and features are preserved [...]

By Kelsey Walling, Hawaii Tribune-Herald | June 8, 2022 (republished with permission) After over two years of planning, four gardeners from Japan traveled to Hilo and built two suhama, or stone beaches, at Lili‘uokalani Park and Gardens. K.T. Cannon-Eger has been working with multiple county administrations to help restore the park to what it looked like nearly 100 years ago. Years ago, Hilo resident Roanne Nip shared a photo of her grandmother on the social media page, Big Island History in Photos, to see if someone recognized the location of a stone beach she was sitting on. Cannon-Eger immediately recognized Lili‘uokalani Park and realized there were stone beaches when the photo was taken in the 1930s, before the 1946 tsunami that destroyed much of the area. Rev. Sohko Kuki performs a blessing in front of the Japanese landscaping team and other attendees for the new suhama, or stone beaches, at Liliuokalani Park and Gardens in Hilo on Tuesday. Kelsey Walling/Tribune-Herald “When I saw the photo, I knew I wanted to work to restore this part of the park with help from expert Japanese gardeners,” Cannon-Eger said. “I started talking about this project when Billy Kenoi was mayor, and now with Mitch Roth as mayor and Maurice Messina in the parks department it was finally able to happen.” Cannon-Eger received the first grant from the Japan government’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, or MLIT, in March 2020. MLIT has been supporting the restoration of Japanese gardens around the world since 2009. The grant was gifted just before the parks closed during the first COVID-19 stay-at-home order. While the pandemic raged, Friends of Lili‘uokalani Park continued to apply for grants and raise funds [...]