MES Maui

Update 2015 Article Written By: Katrina Valcourt, HONOLULU Magazine When we last wrote about Ka‘ahumanu Church, it needed $700,000 to restore structures on the property. Unfortunately, that number increased to $1.5 million to do essential repairs after February’s storm wreaked havoc on the steeple and adjoining buildings, especially the Hawaiian immersion school. According to the Rev. Anne Wong Troy, some progress has been made—they’ve gotten some grants, and a company lent the church a crane for free—but there’s still a long way to go. “There are musicians and artists willing to donate their time [to fundraisers], but the church is so small they can’t get enough volunteers to collect money, organize the concert, be at the door, etc.,” Troy says. “If there are 10 people there on a Sunday, that’s a large number.” Anyone willing to volunteer or donate can go to kaahumanuchurch.org. Listed as Endangered in 2013 Article Written By: Victoria Wiseman, HONOLULU Magazine What is it? Historic churches are an important symbol of the missionary period of Hawaii's history. The Kaahumanu Church, built in 1876 on the grounds of an old heaiau, has a congregation that is 181 years old. "The structure was designed by Edward Bailey. The complex from the church to the Bailey House was originally King Kahekili's compound. He was the last ruling alii of Maui before unification," says the church's kahu, Wayne Higa. Its traditional steeple stands in stark constrast to the verdant natural environment around it. For years, Higa says, the clock on the tower was central to Maui and defined "Maui time." Its graveyard holds the blind preacher of Hawaii, Bartimaeus Puaaiki, who was also the first licensed pastor of Hawaiian ancestry. What threatens it? The church's wooden structure is nearly two centuries old, and termites and salt air have ravaged it. "We've been given a figure of $700,000. We're looking at restoring [...]

UPDATE: December 2011 According to the recent newsletter of The Friends of Old Maui High, Chris Hart & Partners, Inc. developed a preliminary draft of the Conceptual Master Plan for the Patsy Takemoto Mink Center for Environmental Education that includes a Vision Statement, Program Description, Site Plan, and Campus Use Zones. LISTED AS ENDANGERED IN 2005 Article Written By: A. Kam Napier, HONOLULU Magazine What is it? Maui High School opened in 1913 to serve Hamakuapoko plantation camp near Haiku. At its peak, just before World War II, as many as 1,000 students attended Maui High, coming in from throughout central Maui, some even by train. But a new Maui High School opened in Kahului in 1972, putting this one out of business. For the next 30 years, the University of Hawaii used part of the campus,but not this 1921 centerpiece building, the school office and classrooms designed by famed architect C.W. Dickey. What Threatens It? "Nature has had its way with it," says Barbara Long, board president of Friends of Old Maui High School. The roof caved in on the 17,000 square-foot structure and trees grew through the floor. A community work day in 2002 cleared much of the brush. "You couldn't even see the building before that, ivy had grown all over it." What Can Be Done? The Friends of Old Maui High (FOOMHS), a volunteer and non-profit organization, was organized in 2004 to spearhead efforts to preserve and rehabilitate the site into a resource education facility. Partnerships were formed with the Community Work Day Program, Maui High School Alumni, government agencies, local businesses, and community leaders. In 2005, Sen. Daniel Inouye helped secure a $250,000 federal grant to study what needs to [...]

Photos: Courtesy of Matt Thayer Article Written By: Jenny Quill, HONOLULU Magazine What is it? The stables, which are located across from the Hāli‘imaile General Store restaurant, were built around 1920 as part of the old Hāli‘imaile plantation village. “The stables were built before my time,” says Eddie Ceballos, who worked as a field hand and service station attendant for Maui Pineapple Co., now Maui Land & Pineapple Co. (ML&P), for 50 years. “The stables were for the mules and horses, which were used to cultivate and plow between the pineapple lines, to keep the weeds down.” “When I was cognizant of them, it was just past the time when they had been used for the mules and horses,” says Mary “Maizie” Sanford, whose grandfather and father owned and operated Maui Pineapple Co. “I think they were just being used to store different kinds of machinery and vehicles. They’re very picturesque, with all those beautiful trees around them. It would be a shame to lose them.” What threatens it? In May 2008, ML&P submitted a building permit application to demolish the stables. When contacted for additional information regarding the demolition and any future plans for the site, ML&P declined to comment. What can be done? Because the demolition seems to have been kept fairly under wraps, no one is currently working on an alternative solution. However, Nancy McMahon, the deputy This past August the Air Force an-state historic preservation officer for the State Historic Preservation Division, would like to see that the stables remain standing. “I think adaptive reuse for vendors or houses, the chapel and flagpole, and crafts would be ideal,” says McMahon. But without a community alternative to demolition or the cooperation of [...]

UPDATE: SAVED IN 2010 In 2008, Lahaina Restoration Foundation was granted a lease of the smokestack from Kā‘anapali Land Management. The restoration of the smokestack took four months and was completed in 2010. It included installation of carbon steel tension bands, a steel door, repair of exterior concrete, a waterproofing coat, and restoration of the 14-foot high carbon steel "crown" on top of the smokestack. The restoration was carried out by Oak Park Chimmney Co., from original drawings of the smokestack. This project was the recipient of a 2011 Preservation Honor Award. LISTED AS ENDANGERED IN 2005 Article Written By: A. Kam Napier What is it? At one time, this 1928 reinforced concrete smoke stack was the tallest structure on Maui. The Pioneer Mill Sugar Co. operated from 1860 until 1999, leaving the smokestack as a last reminder of West Maui's vanished sugar era. What threatens it? Physically, the smoke stack is fairly solid, but needs some work to stabilize it. Of more pressing concern to the Lahaina Restoration Foundation is the question of ownership. Pioneer Mill belongs to Kaanapali Development Corp., the successor company to Amfac, which LRF says has considered tearing the smokestack down. What Can Be Done? We've asked Kaanapali Development if they would lease us the land around the stack and we'd fund the restoration," says LRF executive director Keoki Freeland, who was the last plantation manager at Pioneer Mill, leaving that job in 1995. "They have given a somewhat positive answer but no guarantee. That's where we sit." Freeland is confident his group can raise the estimated $288,000 needed to restore the smoke stack. Kaanapali Development's executive says "The smokestack is not under demolition permit we've applied for. Our first [...]

Photos: Courtesy of Matt Thayer Article Written By: Michael Keany, HONOLULU Magazine What is it? As one of Maui’s first Japanese Christian churches, the Pu‘unene Congregational Church played an important part in the lives of many plantation workers who lived and worked near the Pu‘unene Sugar Mill. Built in 1910, the church has housed multiple congregations, including the United Church of Christ (1949 to 1968) and the Lanakila Church of Full Gospel of Jesus Christ (1972 to 1995). What threatens it? The church has been sitting vacant for more than a decade, and its owner, Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Co., is eyeing the site for a possible new ethanol plant. To its credit, the company has been doing its best to avoid tearing the church down. HC&S’s Derek Heafey says, “It’s such a beautiful church, and it would be a shame to demolish it; we’ve been trying to give it away for years.” What’s not to like about a free church? Turns out it’s a bit of a white elephant: Local moving companies were estimating the cost of moving the structure at $500,000 or more. What can be done? HC&S had gone as far as applying for a demolition permit when Big Island contractor Tom Quinlan stepped forward. An experienced historic preservation expert, Quinlan has volunteered to move the entire church, although he’s still looking for someone willing to accept a church on their property. “I’m hoping to get word out to find a place I could relocate it on Maui,” Quinlan says. Time is running out—Heafey says HC&S wants the church relocated by January 2007.

Article Written By: Jenny Quill, HONOLULU Magazine What is it? The first capital of the kingdom of Hawai‘i, Lahaina was also once a bustling whaling town and plantation settlement. To recognize and preserve its rich history, two sets of historic districts have been created in Lahaina: The Lahaina Historic District, which encompasses about 1,665 acres, was added to the National Park Service’s (NPS) National Historic Landmarks Program in December 1962. Maui County Historic District Boundaries 1 and 2 cover about 65 acres in Lahaina. “Historic District 1 was designated more for traditional historic sites such as the prison, the Masters’ Reading Room, some of the older churches, the Seaman’s Hospital,” says Ann Cua, the deputy director of the Maui County Planning Department. “Historic District 2 is where you have the commercial buildings on Front St.” What threatens it? The inclusion of the Lahaina Historic District on this list may come as a surprise to many, as it doesn’t appear to be crumbling to the ground. And, to be honest, it’s not; the danger here is far more insidious. “The threat is a long-term pattern of insensitive new construction and incompatible renovations to historic buildings,” says Kiersten Faulkner, executive director of the Historic Hawai‘i Foundation. “The National Park Service, which has oversight of National Historic Landmarks, has noted this pattern as starting to undermine the integrity of the district. It is not an issue of individual sites as much as it is a cumulative effect of countless individual decisions.” Indeed, a 2008 report by the National Parks Service listed the district as threatened, which NPS defines as “any landmarks that have suffered or are in eminent danger of a severe loss of integrity.” The report specifically [...]