#Historic – Page 2 – Historic Hawaii Foundation

Community Workshop Scheduled to Revisit Vision for Pearl Harbor Historic Trail

Preservation in the News: Imagine an 18-mile shoreline trail from Aiea to Nanakuli incorporating historic sites, recreation areas and various other related attractions? Come to the community meeting and workshop at Aiea Elementary School on Wednesday, July 22 to discuss and help form the vision. Pearl Harbor Historic Trail meeting set By Jayna Omaye, Honolulu Star Advertiser Jul 16, 2015 The vision of the Pearl Harbor Historic Trail took root nearly 15 years ago when Aiea and Pearl City residents helped to compile a master plan for a trail along the shoreline to Nanakuli from Aiea that would host, among other things, improved bicycle and pedestrian paths, boat tours and a cultural learning center. City officials are now making efforts to relaunch the project that seeks to drive economic development and establish historic preservation plans on an 18-mile trail linking neighborhoods to various attractions, historic sites and recreation areas along the old Oahu Railway & Land Co. corridor. The master plan, developed in 2001 through community input and adopted by the City Council in 2003, serves as the basis for the revitalization of the shoreline that currently features a city-run bike path from Pearl Harbor to Waipahu and Ewa Beach, with the hope of extending it into Nanakuli. A long-term goal was to operate a steam train along the entire historic railway by extending a route that the Hawaiian Railway Society currently operates from Ewa Beach to Kahe Point. In 2005, then-Gov. Linda Lingle signed a bill that officially recognized the path from Halawa Landing near the USS Arizona Visitors Center through Waipahu as the Pearl Harbor Historic Trail, which was seen by proponents as a breakthrough in moving forward with the master plan. Officials [...]

HistoricHawaii2017-04-21T01:01:17-10:00July 20th, 2015|Categories: Blog|Tags: #fishpond, #Historic, #Lanai, #restoration, Hawaii, Preservation|

800 year old Lanai Fishpond to be Restored

Preservation in the News: Multiple generations come out to help with the restoration of an 800 year old fishpond on the island of Lanai. Nonprofit group to restore ancient Lanai fishpond July 15, 2015 By Associated Press WAILUKU >> A fishpond on the coastline of Lanai that is believed to be 800 years old is being restored this summer by children and adults. The Maui News reports that the nonprofit Lanai Culture & Heritage Center began work to restore the Waiopae fish pond last month with the help from some 140 children and teens. The restoration project is a public-private partnership between the nonprofit and landowner Pulama Lana'i. The group hopes to restore the pond's barrier by building a 2,000-foot long, crescent shaped wall that will be 500 feet from the shore at its farthest point. The restoration project is the first program under a new bill that passed this year which simplified the permitting process for groups applying to restore and maintain Hawaiian fishponds.

HistoricHawaii2017-04-21T01:01:17-10:00July 15th, 2015|Categories: Blog|Tags: #fishpond, #Historic, #Lanai, #restoration, Hawaii, Preservation|

Development and Redevelopment in a Historic District

By Kiersten Faulkner, Executive Director With the advent of the City and County of Honolulu's transit oriented development (TOD) project spurring many questions from the community, we wanted to take a moment to share some of our thoughts on development and redevelopment in a historic district. The best type of redevelopment in a historic district is to use rehabilitation and adaptive use of existing structures. There are opportunities for hidden density by increasing use of currently vacant second floors in existing buildings. Many of the second floors of historic buildings could be used for housing, office, small-scale manufacturing or even retail. There are also a few underutilized lots or surface parking lots scattered in the area (especially mauka of Beretania Street) that could accommodate low-scale, new development that would fit with the scale and character of the area. Maintaining, preserving and upgrading existing buildings would also utilize the existing fabric in a way that respects the heritage and character, and also is more affordable and less environmentally damaging than new construction. Both Chinatown and Downtown Honolulu are already transit-oriented developments, so any additions or changes to the districts should use a light touch, polishing or investing in the existing urban fabric rather than trying to re-invent the entire area. The City’s transit oriented development (TOD) zoning overlay district specifically calls for plans, development and implementation actions to preserve individual and groupings of historic and cultural resources through the application of architectural and other design guidelines and standards for development; and also requires that TOD zones and implementing regulations include objectives addressing neighborhood character, unique community history, and protection of historic resources. The draft Downtown TOD plan includes specific goals and objectives to protect and preserve [...]

HistoricHawaii2015-07-14T10:36:38-10:00July 14th, 2015|Categories: Ask an Expert|Tags: #Historic, #HistoricHawaiiFoundation, #HistoricSites, #TOD, Preservation|

Preservation Tips: Removing Graffiti from Historic Buildings

Safely Removing Graffiti from Historic Buildings July 1, 2015 Building owners, professionals and concerned community members joined us at Lyon Associates on 45 N. King Street yesterday for the first of 3 presentations in our Sustaining Chinatown: Historic Preservation Summer Series 2015. The series is co-sponsored by Historic Hawaii Foundation, Chinatown Improvement District and Lyon Associates. A tip for removing graffiti from historic buildings from yesterday's presentation: always use the gentlest means possible to avoid harming the underlying material. Chinatown brick is soft and will powder if the hard exterior layer is removed. Make sure the mortar is well-pointed before using pressure washing to avoid water damage. Chemical cleaning tests found that “Dumond Smart Strip Pro” was most effective for spray paint and silver coating on brick (but not for use on softer materials, like limestone or marble substrates). For more information and availability go to www.dumondchemicals.com A report on the results of a study on Graffiti Cleaning and Prevention on Historic Chinatown Buildings with useful information on graffiti prevention and treatment approaches will be available soon. Email outreach@historichawaii.org to request a PDF copy when it's published. Though the study's focus is buildings in Honolulu's Chinatown, the information is applicable to buildings made of similar construction materials located throughout Hawaii. Upcoming sessions will cover water damage & repair and tax credits & permitting in a historic district. Click here for more information and to register.

HistoricHawaii2017-04-21T01:01:17-10:00July 1st, 2015|Categories: Blog|Tags: #Historic, #HistoricCemeteries, #HistoricHawaiiFoundation, cemeteries, Hawaii, Preservation|

Architecture and Preservation Communities Mourn the Passing of Spencer Leineweber

Spencer Leineweber and her husband, Michael, were charter members and stalwart supporters of Historic Hawai‘i Foundation and heritage protection efforts for over 40 years. Spencer received HHF’s Haines Award for lifetime achievement in historic preservation in 2013. Her preservation projects included restoration of notable sites such as Hawai‘i Mission Houses; Lyman Museum; Hawai‘i Plantation Village; and ‘Ewa Village. She was a Professor and Director of Graduate Programs at the School of Architecture at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, and oversaw the Heritage Center at the university. She authored the Campus Heritage Report for UH-Mānoa, and oversaw the preservation work at the Charlot House. She also served as one of the Hawai‘i Advisors to the National Trust for Historic Preservation and on the Committee for Historic Resources for the American Institute of Architects. Less than a week before her death, Spencer attended a meeting of historic homeowners about a bill being considered by the Honolulu City Council that would reduce preservation incentives, lending her expertise and authority to the advocacy effort. We will miss her deeply, and our sympathies go to her family.

HistoricHawaii2017-04-21T01:01:18-10:00June 29th, 2015|Categories: Blog|Tags: #Historic, #HistoricCemeteries, #HistoricHawaiiFoundation, cemeteries, Hawaii, Preservation|

Preserving Hawaii’s Historic Cemeteries

Preservation in the News: This past week, UH Students and community members learned best practices for grave marker restoration and documentation from experts including Richard Miller who oversees the restoration of thousands of burial sites at Kalaupapa National Historic Park on Molokai. ********* Bruce Asato / basato@staradvertiser.com University of Hawaii architecture student Lin Whipkey used shaving cream Thursday to make out lettering on a gravestone that was otherwise unreadable in Ma‘e¬ma‘e Chapel Cemetery in Nuu¬anu. UH students in American studies and architecture joined community members to gather and re¬cord information at the cemetery. Of grave concern: Protecting cemeteries A historic cemetery receives care as community members and students work to document the people buried there By Dan Nakaso Honolulu Star Advertiser, Jun 6, 2015 One half of an ancient grave marker lay in a hole at Ma‘ema‘e Chapel Cemetery in Nuuanu among a pile of rocks. The other half had been left nearby. Both pieces were discovered Thursday during a University of Hawaii and community effort to document the condition of the half-acre cemetery and its 120 or so burial sites. Richard Miller, who oversees the restoration of thousands of burial sites at Kalaupapa National Historic Park on Molokai, on Friday showed the UH students and community members how to seal the two pieces of the weather-worn headstone back together with masonry epoxy. After spending two days cleaning and documenting the conditions of the grave markers and burial sites at Ma‘ema‘e, the 20 or so American-studies students and community members will do similar work cleaning and cataloging grave markers Wednesday and Thursday at Pauoa Hawaiian Cemetery in Pauoa. Then they'll give detailed information about the state of the burial sites at both locations [...]

HistoricHawaii2017-04-21T01:01:18-10:00June 8th, 2015|Categories: Blog|Tags: #Historic, #HistoricCemeteries, #HistoricHawaiiFoundation, cemeteries, Hawaii, Preservation|

New Exhibit at USS Missouri Unveils Artifacts from Japan

Preservation in the News: Humanity mixes with tales of war and mayhem in new exhibit at the Battleship Missouri Memorial. Especially touching is the love letter from a kamikaze pilot to his fiance. See the full story below. ********* USS Missouri hosts artifacts never seen before outside Japan By William Cole April 09, 2015 – Honolulu Star Advertiser Humanity amid the savagery of war demonstrated 70 years ago in the Battle of Okinawa is being re-emphasized by the Battleship Missouri Memorial with a new exhibit on the kamikaze pilots whose suicide runs wreaked havoc on Allied ships late in World War II. When a Japanese Zero crashed into the starboard side of the USS Missouri on April 11, 1945 — and the dead pilot's body ended up on the ship — some of the crew wanted to toss the enemy's remains overboard. Michael Carr, president and CEO of the Battleship Missouri Memorial, looks at photos of kamikaze pilots in the exhibit. (Photo by Craig T Kojima) But Missouri commander Capt. William M. Callaghan made the controversial decision to bury the aviator at sea the next morning with military honors including a makeshift Japanese flag draped over the body, a three-volley rifle salute and playing of taps. On the 70th anniversary of the kamikaze attack on Saturday, the Missouri is opening a new exhibit that will "show today's generations another side to the people engaged in war and how the world has changed since then" with artifacts never seen before outside of Japan. On display are nine farewell letters sent home by the "tokko-tai" (special attack forces) with translations and photos of the pilots, uniform items, and a small "mascot doll" made by women [...]

HistoricHawaii2017-04-21T01:01:19-10:00April 9th, 2015|Categories: Blog|Tags: #Historic, #HistoricSites, #Japan, #kamikaze, #USSMissouri, Hawaii, Preservation|

From Lincoln Elementary School to Historic Linekona — Tales from the Past

Education at Linekona stretches back 180 years By Robert M. Fox and David Cheever March 01, 2015 Honolulu Star Advertiser ILLUSTRATION BY ROBERT M. FOX The Linekona building was founded as a school to teach English to Hawaii’s native children. Let's say you went to Lincoln Elementary School — next to Thomas Square — in the early 1950s. By the time you reached the sixth grade, you had had Lincoln's Gettysburg Address drilled into you so often that you can recite it probably even today. More than that, the school put on a play about Abraham Lincoln and his family on Lincoln's birthday each February, and it was akin to being picked as prom king and queen in high school to be chosen to play Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln in sixth grade. The play included Lincoln-era costumes like the tall, silk stovepipe hat plus stiff, formal dress suit for him and tight-laced, heavy fabric long dress with shawl and bonnet for her. These were local kids in the '50s, so can you imagine these 12-year-olds in period costume on the school stage barefoot? Lincoln School was quite a place in its heyday, educating such luminaries as former Honolulu Advertiser owner and philanthropist Thurston Twigg-Smith and Claire Olsen Johnson, former president and longtime member of the board of trustees of Punahou School. Other notable alums were Alexander & Baldwin's dynamic leader Bobbie Pfeiffer, Maui's jocular and popular Mayor Hannibal Tavares, and real estate mogul and community leader Sheridan Ing (the latter three are deceased). It was fun hearing Claire reminisce about playing Mrs. Lincoln in sixth grade with Alex Jamile as Mr. Lincoln. Alex became a top executive at Bankoh and his brother Clinton, who played [...]

HistoricHawaii2017-04-21T01:01:19-10:00April 2nd, 2015|Categories: Blog|Tags: #Historic, #HistoricHawaiiFoundation, #HistoricSites, #Legislature, Hawaii, Preservation|

Preservation Measures at the State Legislature

Here's a status update as we enter the half-way mark for the 2015 legislative session. Dear Members and Friends, We are pleased to share with you a status update on historic preservation-related bills at the State Legislature. The session is at the half-way mark, when the initial flurry of bills has been reduced to a more manageable number. At the start of the legislative session in January, over 70 bills were introduced that affected historic preservation. Historic Hawai‘i Foundation participates in the legislative process by tracking and responding to bills and resolutions with the potential to affect historic sites and buildings, including measures related to incentives for preservation, regulations to protect historic properties, and more general measures related to planning, permitting, environmental review, arts and culture. By the mid-point of the session, when bills cross between the Senate and the House, there were about 20 bills still active. Of those, four have the most direct effect on protection of historic resources. As each measure moves through the legislative process, it is amended and revised in ways that are not always predictable. Our testimony and position on the bills also changes as the contents shift, so the comments are relevant to current draft. Two of the bills (SB877 and HB830) attempt to limit the applicability of the state historic preservation program to exclude residences, except for those that are designated on the register of historic places. The bills’ proponents—led by the Building Industry Association—proposed redefining “historic property” to exclude single-family residences, claiming that houses cannot and should not be considered historically significant unless they are among the small percentage designated by the state. Historic Hawai‘i Foundation opposes these measures as currently drafted. The relevant issue is [...]

HistoricHawaii2017-04-21T01:01:19-10:00March 19th, 2015|Categories: Blog|Tags: #Historic, #HistoricHawaiiFoundation, #HistoricSites, #Legislature, Hawaii, Preservation|

Historic Hale’iwa has a new look

Read about Hale'iwa's new look in Allison Schaefers recent article in the Advertiser. Haleiwa's new look By Allison Schaefers Honolulu Star Advertiser POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Mar 08, 2015 PHOTO BY DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARADVERTISER.COM Visitors relax near Whalers General Store and fruit stand The lines snaking out the door at Matsumoto Shave Ice on a recent February day were longer than normal for the season. While the popular Haleiwa stop serves 1,200 of the syrupy cones daily during the summer months, its tourist traffic is more variable during the winter season, when there is sometimes a lull in Oahu's visitor arrivals. But Stanley Matsumoto, son of Matsumoto Shave Ice founders Mamoru and Helen Matsumoto, said business has been booming since the soft opening of Kamehameha Schools' latest retail project, the 27,000-square-foot Haleiwa Store Lots. The plantation-inspired retail, dining and cultural gathering place is only 60 percent complete, but already it has become a must-see stop in the historic North Shore beach town where 2.5 million tourists come through annually. Matsumoto's is the anchor for the new $16 million project, which sits on 4 acres of the 26,000 acres of North Shore land owned by Kamehameha Schools. Matsumoto's turned 64 years old in February and moved to an expanded location within the Haleiwa Store Lots. Now it and 11 other specialty shops of the 20-something planned for the development are attracting lots of tourists who are hungry for a bit of North Shore culture, niche retail items and cuisine. Stanley Matsumoto said it's a far cry from the world his parents found themselves in when they added shave ice to their quiet country shop in the 1950s just to make ends meet. "I remember [...]

HistoricHawaii2017-04-21T01:01:19-10:00March 16th, 2015|Categories: Blog|Tags: #Haleiwa, #Historic, #HistoricHawaiiFoundation, #HistoricSites, Hawaii, Preservation|