MostEndangered2008

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.

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.