MostEndangered2013

UPDATE: November, 2018 Public Meeting on Redevelopment of the Board of Water Supply Complex Set for Thursday, November 8, 2018 The Board of Water Supply will be issuing a Request for Proposal to redevelop a portion of its Beretania Complex. A presentation and public meeting is scheduled for Thursday, November 8. The Complex is home to three historically-significant buildings.  The current Request for Proposal includes the adjacent parking lots, but not the historic buildings. A previous proposal (2013) would have allowed demolition of the Hart Wood-designed administration building, which lead Historic Hawai‘i Foundation to list it as one of the Most Endangered Historic Properties in Hawai‘i. The Board of Water Supply then withdrew the prior concept to “regroup.” The current proposal appears to avoid the sensitive sites. UPDATE: 2015 Article Written By: Katrina Valcourt The Board of Water Supply withdrew its request for proposal to develop the land after all interested developers backed out. “We’re regrouping,” says Ernest Lau, manager and chief engineer of BWS. “We intend to rethink the process and go out with another RFP in the next couple of years, but probably not to touch any of the existing buildings. I think people have a lot of emotional connection to the architect who designed some of these buildings (Hart Wood).” BWS will instead focus on infrastructure upgrades and becoming accessible. Lau says they are also considering resubdividing the land into more developable parcels, or rezoning the site to give developers more flexibility. Listed as Endangered in: 2013 Article Written By: Victoria Wiseman, HONOLULU Magazine What is it? Fronting Beretania Street, the Honolulu Board of Water Supply was designed by architect Hart Wood, founder of the Hawaii Regional Movement. Created at the end of his career and life, the Pumping Station was built in 1917, the Engineering Building built in 1938, and the Administration [...]

Photos: Courtesy of Olivier Koning Article Written By: Victoria Wiseman, HONOLULU Magazine What is it? The ‘Ewa Sugar Plantation, which appears on the National Register of Historic Places, is one of the most intact neighborhoods from the plantation era. The historic sites, including its cemetery, are still part of a thriving community. The cemetery was the final resting place of immigrants and some plantation managers. Markers include both wooden crosses and headstones made of lava rocks. Some have Japanese inscriptions; the oldest legibly dated markers are from 1902. What threatens it? As the sugar industry collapsed, the O‘ahu Sugar Co. sold the plantation to the City & County of Honolulu in the mid-1990s. Although the city and the community have worked to rehabilitate and restore parts of the plantation, some areas-such as the cemetery-have been neglected. Markers have moved, a fire has burned some of the wooden crosses and kiawe and weeds grow aggressively. "Gravestones are just sitting there, toppled over," says Mitchell Tynanes, an ‘Ewa Beach Community Board member. What can be done? It looks like only community pride can save the cemetery: According to the Department of Facility Maintenance, there are no plans for improvements or any construction there. Ross Sasamura, chief engineer for the department, says budgetary challenges are to blame. "The city hasn't gone in, and we cannot wait," says Tynanes, who coordinates cleanup efforts through the Lion's Club. Monthly cleanups are sparsely attended, but a dedicated handful of community members go regularly to clean up and create an updated map of markers, which have shifted over time. A Friends of ‘Ewa Cemetery fundraising site, set up by the community, gives the proceeds to the Lion's Club, and community cleanups are [...]

Photos: Courtesy of Olivier Koning UPDATE: DEMOLISHED IN 2014 Fisherman's Wharf building makes way for redevelopment Article Courtesy of: http://www.oha.org/news/fishermans-wharf-building-makes-way-redevelopment HONOLULU (Nov. 20, 2014) – The vacant building that Fisherman’s Wharf Restaurant used to occupy on Ala Moana Boulevard in Kaka‘ako Makai was demolished today in favor of new opportunities that would benefit Native Hawaiians. Demolition crews with Waipio-based North Star Contracting Group Inc. took less than a month to tear down the dilapidated 10,000-square-feet building, which was built around 1940. The demolition project called for salvaging the two iconic restaurant signs that used to grace the roof of the building as well as a free-standing restaurant sign at ground level and incorporating them into the future redevelopment of the site, which is part of 30 acres the Office of Hawaiian Affairs has owned in Kaka‘ako Makai since August 2012. For private investors and others who have previously expressed interest in the property, the building became too cost-prohibitive to renovate. In fact, the demolition project was a direct response to health and safety concerns stemming from the building, which became infested with termites and rats after sitting empty for a few years. The demolition project also comes at a time when OHA is drawing up a master plan focused on fulfilling the potential for its properties in Kaka‘ako Makai to generate revenue that could support the agency’s efforts to fund community-based programs aimed at improving conditions for Native Hawaiians.   LISTED AS ENDANGERED IN 2013 Article Written By: Victoria Wiseman, HONOLULU Magazine What is it? Fisherman’s Wharf is typical of roadside, or pop, architecture, the likes of which you’d see along Route 66—motels, souvenir shops, even the “Welcome to Las Vegas” sign with its starbursts and [...]