News

Be a part of “Shaping Hawaii for Tomorrow” at the 2014 HCPO Planning Conference

You live in Hawai'i.  You work in Hawai'i.  You are planning Hawaii's future. We know you have ideas and projects to make planning in Hawai'i creative and resilient AND you can present them at the 2014 Hawaii Congress of Planning Officials (HCPO) on Maui in September. To make this year’s conference especially meaningful, the Maui conference team wants to hear from you . We  all learn from each other and the conference is a great way to get re-energized and to hear about  new ideas to help Hawai'i SHIFT into the future. SHIFT - Shaping Hawaii for Tomorrow, is this year’s theme.  We want to hear about your projects, case studies and ideas, especially those that are innovative and offer a different way of solving planning problems SUBMIT YOUR IDEAS and a proposal by following the link below to the Call for Sessions page.  ENGAGE IN THE SHIFT! https://hcpomaui2014.squarespace.com/call-for-sessions/ We recommend opening the page using Firefox or Google Chrome browser. Please share with anyone who might have interest in participating. MAHALO!  HCPO Maui Program Committee ___________________________________________________________________________________________ Historic Hawaii Foundation 1974~2014 ~ Celebrating 40 years of preservation in Hawaii! We’re Social! Like us on Facebook  Follow us on Twitter Sign up for our E-news for the latest on preservation-related events, news and issues here in Hawai‘i & beyond. 

2017-04-21T01:01:39-10:00March 19th, 2014|Categories: Blog|

Preservation in the News: HILT leads “Talk Story on the Land” hikes

  COURTESY JEANE MCMAHON Hikers learn to love and conserve the land March 2, 2014 By Cheryl Chee Tsutsumi The Honolulu Star-Advertiser Ted Clement's first job after graduating from college in 1991 was working as an environmental educator for the Outward Bound School in Maine. A longtime outdoor enthusiast with a Bachelor of Science degree, he led high school and college students on expeditions ranging from about three weeks to three months. Every course had an organized "solo," during which students would be left alone in a safe, albeit remote, wilderness area. Journaling was a big part of that experience. When the students completed their solo, which sometimes lasted a few days, there was a ceremony where they would read some of their journal entries. "Time and time again, I saw students share profound thoughts about the natural world and their place in it," said Clement, now an attorney whose focus is land conservation law. "For many of the students, the solo was their first contemplative experience in nature, and the observations that came out of it were amazing." Later, while working as the executive director of the Aquidneck Land Trust in Rhode Island, Clement used the insights he had gained at Outward Bound to launch a program called Land Matters Walk & Talk. It involved taking the public, free of charge, to places the organization was protecting and working to protect. "The walks helped people connect with nature and learn about Aquidneck's time-sensitive land conservation projects," Clement said. "Once they understood what we were trying to accomplish, they wholeheartedly supported it. When I became the executive director of the Hawaiian Islands Land Trust (HILT) in January 2013, I was confident the same [...]

2017-04-21T01:01:39-10:00March 13th, 2014|Categories: Blog|

Preservation in the News: Historic pump station to be converted to senior resource center

Photo by JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARADVERTISER.COM Plan for senior center on pump station site OK'd By Andrew Gomes Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 2014-03-06 March 06--A 114-year-old building in Kakaako that has stood abandoned for the past 50 years, despite being an architectural gem, may finally be put to use after numerous failed efforts and ideas in recent decades. A proposal to rehabilitate and reuse the historic Ala Moana Pump Station, which was Honolulu's first sewage disposal facility, was endorsed Wednesday by a state agency that owns the property. The board of the Hawaii Community Development Authority voted to accept $1 million through a nonprofit organization and another state agency to restore the building for use as a resource center for seniors. Pacific Gateway Center, a nonprofit serving immigrants, refugees and low-income residents, proposed using the building to provide services to seniors. The organization received a $1 million grant provided by the Legislature through the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations to establish a community resource center, and approached HCDArecently after prospects for another site fell through. Under the proposal, the nonprofit would channel its grant to HCDAto bid out the renovation work, and then negotiate a lease to use the property at the corner of Keawe Street and Ala Moana Boulevard. HCDAstaff recommended accepting Pacific Gateway's plan, saying in a report that the building is in need of repair and would continue to deteriorate if left unused. "It seemed like a good fit,"said Anthony Ching, HCDAexecutive director. "This is the most credible public purpose." Yet one agency board member, Miles Kamimura, questioned whether the project was being rushed to avoid the grant lapsing at the end of June. Kamimura noted that a prior HCDA assessment [...]

2017-04-21T01:01:40-10:00March 12th, 2014|Categories: Blog|

Preservation in the news: Palace to replace broken glass panel

Photo courtesy of Star-Advertiser Palace taps California artist again to replicate glass panel By Rob Shikina, Honolulu Star Advertiser March 2, 2014 A California man will soon begin the painstaking process of replicating an embossed glass panel that was shattered during an act of vandalism at Iolani Palace last month. Patrick Mackle, who has reproduced three panes of glass for the palace already, will craft the piece at his shop in Monrovia, Calif. The artwork, which is in a style similar to rococo, a florid style that originated in Europe, has fine brushstrokes that reveal shadows and shapes, he said. The job will take about three months. Palace officials said replacing the glass will cost between $14,000 and $15,000, including shipping. A private donor may cover the expense. The glass was broken on Feb. 8 when two people forced their way into the palace. Police arrested a 30-year-old man and a 21-year-old woman on suspicion of criminal property damage, but released them pending investigation. Palace officials said it appears a kick broke the glass and opened the door. The glass fractured, but a sheet of tint kept the shards from falling out of the frame. Officials removed the glass and covered the hole with a piece of wood. Mackle, 63, said he will use the original process employed to create the ornamentation. It is the only way to re-create the original design, which includes a water bird, foliage and a frog. He said the technique is becoming obsolete in today's use of computerized images with sharp and clean designs. "You can see the artist's hand strokes and the brush strokes," he said by phone from his shop. "This is almost like a painting [...]

2017-04-21T01:01:40-10:00March 11th, 2014|Categories: Blog|
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Open House: Historic Goodsill Residence, April 5

Photos courtesy of Victoria Sambunaris and Ian Clagstone Historic Hawai'i Foundation and Stephan Jost will host an Historic Home Open House at the Marshall & Ruth Goodsill Residence, a Vladimir Ossipoff modern Hawaiian-style Home in the Wai‘alae – Kāhala area of Honolulu. The event will be held on Saturday, April 5, 2014 from 4:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m. WHAT: Historic Home Open House with Pūpū & Wine WHEN: Saturday, April 5th WHERE: Wai'alae-Kāhala (Location address will be provided upon ticket purchase) TIME: From 4:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m. COST: $25 for HHF members/$50 general admission TICKETS:  hhf2014goodsillopenhouse.eventbrite.com All proceeds benefit the programs & services of Historic Hawaii Foundation Enjoy a rare glimpse into a modern masterpiece by renowned architect Vladimir Ossipoff. The Marshall and Ruth Goodsill residence sits on a slightly sloping, almost one-acre lot on a serene side street in Wai‘alae-Kāhala. Learn the private design elements of this classic Ossipoff creation on the house tour with a knowledgeable docent at your side. Afterwards relax and socialize over pūpū and wine. The residence is significant as an excellent example of an early 1950s house designed by a master, Vladimir Ossipoff. Rendered in a modern Hawaiian style, this house was one of a number of fashionable residences designed by Ossipoff in the 1950s, which established his reputation as the premier architect of the period in Honolulu. Other houses of the period designed by this superb architect include: the LeRoy Bush residence on Tantalus, E. J. Greaney residence near Diamond Head, Dr. Liljestrand residence, Linus Pauling residence, and Blanche Hill residence in Kahala (No Longer Extant). In addition to many splendid modern Hawaiian style houses, Ossipoff also designed the Pacific Club (1960), the Outrigger Canoe Club (1963), [...]

2017-04-21T01:01:40-10:00March 11th, 2014|Categories: Events - Past|
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Do you get charged up about preservation?

 If you worked in this building, you might. From the Star Bulletin Archives - July, 2004: The Hawaiian Electric building was completed in 1927. HECO contracted with New York architects York & Sawyer, the same team who designed the post office, to create a similar building but lofted in a more vertical plane. Local architects Emory & Webb were in charge of construction. Created in an era when Honolulu was slower-paced, the building includes friendly details like built-in benches for weary pedestrians, horse hitching racks and coolly arched portico entrances on the King and Richards streets sides. Old pictures show a kind of bell-tower/gazebo/cupola structure on the makai roof that is now hard to spot. The roof is low-rise and thoroughly tiled with glassy barrel-mission tiles. York & Sawyer reached back into Spanish history for the decorative column supports and half-stilted arched windows -- the style is reminiscent of early 1800s designs by Spanish architects Churriguera and Ribera. Bounded by the convergence of King and Merchant streets, the building is trapezoidal in plan, with the point of the pizza slice becoming the business entrance on Richards. The building is four stories tall, of reinforced concrete with steel framing. The cost, high for the time, was $750,000. The ground floor is actually a grand story and half in height with column supports for the vaulted ceiling, decorated by J. Rosenstein. The Richards Street portico ceiling paintings are by Julian Jarnsey. The wide end of the building -- the crust side of the pizza slice -- sports a covered through-structure hallway. Here were stairs leading to Hawaiian Electric administration offices, and there are some small shops in the arcade. ___________________________________________________________________________________________ Historic Hawaii Foundation 1974~2014 ~ Celebrating 40 [...]

2017-04-21T01:01:40-10:00March 3rd, 2014|Categories: Blog|

Austin and Pantheon Buildings (2007)

Photos: Courtesy of Rae Huo Article Written By: Michael Keany, HONOLULU Magazine What is it? The Austin and Pantheon buildings sit on Nu‘uanu Avenue, directly behind the Hawai‘i Theatre. The Austin is home to Restaurant Epic, while the now-boarded-up Pantheon, built in 1911, once housed Honolulu’s oldest bar: the Pantheon, founded in 1883.   What threatens them? Hawai‘i Theatre is planning a $21 million expansion that will add a deeper main stage, a separate black-box theater and a restaurant, as well as storage space, changing rooms and offices. Sarah Richards, president of Hawai‘i Theatre Center, says “We’ll be able to host a much wider range of performances, both larger and smaller. It will be a real benefit to the neighborhood.” To make room for the upgrades, however, Richards says the Austin and the Pantheon will need to be demolished. What can be done? Architect Glenn Mason describes the Pantheon as, “a wreck, structurally,” but says that he’d like to see at least the façades of the two buildings preserved. “They’re contributing to the historic district, although they aren’t wildly significant by themselves,” he says. “If Hawai‘i Theatre is planning on tearing the buildings down and replacing them with fake façades, that’s a concern.”   Kiersten Faulkner, executive director of the Historic Hawai‘i Foundation, agrees. “The success of the theater is good for the community, but so is having an intact and complete Chinatown. Replicated buildings weaken the context and undermine the overall district. Historic preservation is not only about monumental and iconic buildings; it’s also about the everyday experience of vibrant streets and active neighborhoods.” Hawai‘i Theatre is early in the planning stages—the current timeline calls for a 2012 construction start date—and it’s Faulkner’s hope [...]

2016-11-17T09:12:25-10:00March 3rd, 2014|Categories: MES Oahu|Tags: , |

Auwai of Nuuanu Valley (2008)

Photos: Courtesy of Rae Huo Article Written By: Michael Keany, HONOLULU Magazine What is it? Centuries ago, Nuuanu Valley was one of Oahu’s primary bread baskets, filled with taro, breadfruit and other staples of the Hawaiian diet. In order to irrigate their crops, Hawaiians built an elaborate system of ditches, called auwai, that diverted water from Nuuanu Stream, through the loi and then returned it to the stream. What threatens it? As Nuuanu Valley transitioned from agricultural to residential use, the land under the auwai was split up into smaller parcels, complicating oversight of the system. The Board of Water Supply once maintained the auwai, but today the task falls to the individual property owners in the neighborhood.  Attention to the auwai is spotty; out of 14 original auwai, there are now about eight that are either flowing or could be repaired. “New people move in and don’t understand what they’ve got in their backyards. They fill it in to have something else there,” says Shannon Wilson of the Nuuanu Valley Auwai Study Group, a neighborhood volunteer group dedicated to restoring the auwai. “It’s in everyone’s deed that they have to take care of their section of the waterway, but people don’t always read the fine print.” What can be done? At this point, it’s a matter of public education, making sure property owners with auwai segments know the best way to take care of them. The Nuuanu Valley Auwai Study Group is doing its best to spread the word. They’ll even handle the dirty work of repairing and maintaining an auwai section, if a property owner is unable. For more information, call Wilson at 595-2914.

2016-11-17T09:13:49-10:00March 3rd, 2014|Categories: MES Oahu|Tags: , |

University of Hawaii at Manoa Engineering Quads (2008)

Photos: Courtesy of Rae Huo Article Written By: Michael Keany, HONOLULU Magazine What Is It? These four buildings next to the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa’s Campus Center constitute some of the oldest buildings on campus—their small size a reminder of how much the school has grown since its early days. One of them, the Engineering Materials Testing Laboratory, built in 1915, is predated only by Hawai‘i Hall. The buildings housed the Engineering School until 1959. Today, they provide a home for Ka Leo, UH’s student newspaper, the Board of Publications, Student Support Services, Duplicating Services and the now-empty Beau Press. What threatens it? A proposed $38 million expansion of the Campus Center that would include a fitness center and gym for students, as well as a heritage corridor commemorating the university’s 100-year-history. The footprint of the new complex, at least as it’s currently planned, lies directly over the historic quad, meaning the four buildings would need to be demolished to make way. Astrid Liverman, architectural branch chief at the state Historic Preservation Division, says, “It’s ironic that in order to build a Heritage Corridor, they’re going to remove the heritage.” What can be done? Because UH Mānoa is a state agency, it’s required by law to get the concurrence of the SHPD before starting any project that impacts historic property. Liverman has thus far opposed the idea of demolishing the Engineering Quad buildings, and says she’s holding out either for a revised plan that incorporates the four buildings into the new complex, or at least a compromise that saves some of the buildings. Kathy Cutshaw, the UH Mānoa vice chancellor for administration, finance and operations, is overseeing the project, but didn’t return our calls.

2016-11-17T09:14:03-10:00March 3rd, 2014|Categories: MES Oahu|Tags: , |

‘Ewa Field (2008)

Photos: Courtesy of Rae Huo UPDATE: 2014 The Navy completed historic research and analysis in June 2014 about the battlefield significance of the former Marine Corps Air Station ‘Ewa. The resulting documentation determined that the site is likely eligible to be designated on the National Register of Historic Places for its association with events significant to the history of the country. The “Determination of Eligibility” will be reviewed by accepting officials at the State Historic Preservation Division, the US Navy and the Department of Interior (which is the Keeper of the National Register) to make the final determination on the historic significance and remaining integrity of the resources. UPDATE: 2012 According to the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (Case Digest: Section 106 in Action), the Navy is proposing to approve construction of a 5.91-megawatt photovoltaic (PV) field array on approximately 20 acres of land leased to Ford Island Ventures (FIV). The proposal includes a sublease by FIV to the Kalaeloa Renewable Energy Park LLC, a company formed to develop this project. The runways at Ewa Field were initially proposed location for the PV field. Upon consultation with the SHPO, Native Hawaiian groups, interested parties, and the public, the proposed PV field was relocated to a parcel adjacent to the runways, known as “the panhandle.” LISTED AS ENDANGERED IN 2008 Article Written BY: Michael Keany, HONOLULU Magazine What is it? Originally established in 1925 as a Navy field for airships—yes, dirigibles—this military site was used only sporadically until early 1941, when the Marine Corps converted it into an active airfield as World War II heated up around the world. When the Japanese fighter pilots buzzed in close on Dec. 7, they were able to destroy or [...]

2017-04-21T01:01:40-10:00March 3rd, 2014|Categories: MES Oahu|Tags: , |
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