Historic Properties

Address Kamehameha Highway at Kalauao Spring (west of Pali Momi Street) Built 1936, 1945, 1966 Abstract Kamehameha Hwy has been a major transportation route through the Pearl City/ Aiea area since the early decades of the 20th century.  The bridges constructed over this crossing at Kalauao Spring have been significantly integral to its development as an effective transportation route and have contributed meaningfully to development of this geographic area.  They also have facilitated major passage through the area to points east and west that are served by the highway and are representative of important public works projects initiated by the Territorial and State governments. This bridge is considered historic because of its association with the roadway infrastructure of Kamehameha Hwy in the Pearl City/Aiea area.

Address Honouliuli Stream, Ewa, HI 96706 Built 1939 Abstract The Honouliuli Stream Bridge is a single-span, reinforced concrete tee-beam structure with a span length of 54 feet and a width of 32 feet.  It rises about 10 over the stream bed.  The decorative railings, with elongated Greek-cross voids, are typical of the era in which it was built.  Built in 1939, this Farrington Road bridge crosses the Honouliuli Stream, representing a transportation improvement for the whole Leeward Community.  Up until that point, the Waianae Road (before it was named Farrington Road) traversed the stream via a winding path over a smaller bridge which can still be seen on the makai side of the Kahi Mohall complex.

Address 1240 Ala Moana Blvd Honolulu, HI 96814 Built early 1960's Designed By Vladimir Ossipoff What is it? Vladimir Ossipoff designed this Ala Moana Boulevard office building for the IBM Corp. in the early 1960s. It boasted a straightforward layout, and niceties such as a distinctive grille that's made it one of Honolulu s most iconic buildings. "It's an interesting and worthwhile remnant of Hawaii’s 1960s period," says Sydney Snyder, Ossipoff s long time architectural partner. "It's from that era when people put grilles on everything. This grille survived because it was unique and more elegant than most." What threatens it? The building is actually in good shape, and in use. But General Growth Properties wants to tear it down as part of its master plan for the 60-acre Ward Centre complex. Jan Yokota, GGP vice president of development, says it's too early to say when exactly demolition might happen. We’re planning a mix of mid and high rise buildings throughout the 60 acres [over the next 30 years]. But we haven't designed any of the buildings yet, and have not settled on a phasing plan yet." What can be done? The Hawai‘i Community Development Authority is currently reviewing GGP's master plan, but the IBM Building isn’t currently on the HCDAs must save list, according to communications director Craig Nakamoto. "If the landowner wants to designate or get a building nominated as a historic building, the HCDA will do everything it can to support that. But any initiative to do that would have to come from General Growth Properties." In any case, it will likely be at least a few years before the wrecking ball swings, leaving open [...]

Address 335 S King St, Honolulu, HI 96813 Built 1922 Designed By The New York firm of York & Sawyer Abstract The Post Office building was designed by the New York firm of York & Sawyer in an adaptation of the Mediterranean style.  The octagonal columns form an open arcade that frames a landscaped courtyard.  The tile roof with generous overhangs and the stucco exterior links it with the nearby Honolulu Hale complex.

Address 605 Kapiolani Blvd, Honolulu, HI 96813 Designed By Walter Emory and Marshall Webb Highlights of Hawaii's Daily Newspapers and Their Locations by Lowell Angell Since Hawaii’s first newspaper, Ka Lama Hawaii, was published in 1834 at Lahaina, Maui, it’s estimated that there have been more than 1,000 different news publications, varying in frequency and in at least nine languages. The two best known today are, of course, The Honolulu Advertiser and Honolulu Star-Bulletin. The Pacific Commercial Advertiser began as a weekly on July 2, 1856, and is Hawaii’s oldest continuously published newspaper. Founded by businessman and missionary son Henry M. Whitney, the paper was pro-American and pro-annexation, except when Walter Murray Gibson, a royalist and front for Claus Spreckles, ran it from 1880-1887. It was later purchased by annexationist Lorrin A. Thurston, former cabinet minister under King Kalākaua. Wallace Rider Farrington (Territorial Governor, 1921-1929) was editor from 1894-1897. The paper became The Honolulu Advertiser on March 31, 1921. Although not its first home, the Advertiser was located in the W.W. Dimond building on King Street, between Fort and Bethel Streets, until 1913. [W.W. Dimond & Co. sold home furnishings. In 1936, the King Theatre was built on the site, now a multi-story parking garage]. The Advertiser then moved to King Street, between Richards and Alakea Streets. The building, later extended to Merchant Street, still exists as the Arcade Building. In January 1930, the Advertiser occupied its present home at 605 Kapi‘olani Boulevard at South Street. Designed by architects Walter Emory and Marshall Webb, the three-story Beaux Arts building features large divided-lite awning windows and a Spanish tile hipped roof. The third floor once housed Hawaii’s oldest radio [...]

UPDATE: 2011 Dr. Brennan, at Kailua Historical Society, stated that there continues to be no effort by HRT, Inc. to maintain the property and its structures. The company still has not responded to offers from the Kailua Historical Society to lease and maintain the property. What is it? This 10-acre has been touched by every historical movement from the Great Māhele to the Japanese investment bubble of the 1980s. Some highlights: Maj. Edward Boyd and his wife bought the land in 1869, creating an estate where King David Kalākaua and his Sister, Lili’uokalani, attended parties or simply came for rest – in fact, Lili’uokalani penned “Aloha ‘Oe” after an 1878 visit to the estate. Sugar baron William G. Irwin next purchased the estate in 1893, starting up a coffee mill there that still exists. C. Brewer owned the estate in the 1920s and the 1930s, using it as a retreat. Kāne’ohe Ranch bought it in 1941, when the military used it as a headquarters and rest area. Even the Girl Scouts used it as a camp in the late ‘40s. The Hedemann family – related to the Castle family – where the last to live there, until 1985, when the estate was purchased by Japanese investor Yasuo Yasuda, who developed much of the surrounding area as the golf course Luana Hills. LISTED AS ENDANGERED IN 2005 What threatens it? Uninhabited since about 1985, the structures and the grounds of the estate are rapidly being absorbed by the rain forest of Maunawili. Vandals have heavily damaged the wooden main houses on the property, which date back to the 1860s and 1890s. The roofs leak, plants run riot. The estate, owned since 2000 [...]

Address 55-600 Naniloa Loop, Laie, HI Built 1919 Abstract Beaux-Art and Prairie School-Modern architectural elements combine in the glistening white building made of pulverized volcanic rock and coral, set within manicured formal gardens on O‘ahu’s windward coast.

Address 1221 Punchbowl St, Honolulu, HI Built 1959 Designed By Vladimir Ossipoff Abstract Renowned Hawai‘i architect Vladimir Ossipoff designed this building in 1959 as a permanent home for the Hawai‘i Medical Library, which had been forced to move seven times since its founding in 1913. Today the library’s historic collections serve as invaluable resources for medical students. What threatens it? Squeezed onto a dense urban campus, The Queen’s Medical Center has long been short on parking, with many employees waiting years for a space. The hospital desperately needs a new multilevel parking structure, and with no free space left on campus, the Medical Library is seen as the most expendable building. Mark Yamakawa, the chief operating officer of Queen’s Health Systems, says the hospital is reluctant to tear down the library, but says, “Queen’s infrastructure is already at capacity, particularly with regard to parking. We need to look to the future.” What can be done? Yamakawa says that Queen’s first choice of sites for its parking structure is right next door—a surface parking lot belonging to the Board of Water Supply. Not only is the location conveniently close to the rest of the Queen’s campus, it would obviate the need to tear down the Medical Library. The Board of Water Supply, however, remains noncommittal about its plans for the asphalt lot. “We’re evaluating the possibility of redeveloping this piece of property,” says spokesperson Su Shin. “Once we decide what we want to do, we would lay out all the criteria and put it out for public bidding, as required by law.” Yamakawa worries that the public auction would price the lot beyond Queen’s budget. “As a healthcare provider, [...]