Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Hilo Gas

“Hawaii … has two public-utility gas companies, the first having been incorporated April 15, 1903 for the purpose of supplying Honolulu with a manufactured supply of gas for fuel and illuminating purposes.”

“Ten years later, the second utility, the Hilo Gas Company was incorporated, and a franchise was obtained for manufacturing and supplying gas in the district of South Hilo on the Island of Hawaii.” (Historic Inventory of the physical, social and economic, and industrial resources of the Territory of Hawaii, 1939)

“Hilo Gas Company Formed – Articles of incorporation of the Hilo Gas Company, Ltd, were filed with the territorial treasurer yesterday, the capital stock being given as $100,000.  Bids for the erection of a gas plant have already been advertised for by the company and the contract will be let the latter part of this month.” (Hawaiian Gazette, January 5, 1917)

One of the incorporators and President of the new Company was Peter Carl ‘Pete’ Beamer, “who became the patriarch of a famous music and hula clan in Hawaii”. (Downey, Civil Beat)

Hilo Gas “was engaged as a public utility in the manufacture and distribution of gas in the City of Hilo and in the nonutility business of distributing bottled liquefied petroleum gas outside of the city.” (Hawaiian Trust Co. v. United States, 1961)

Over the years, this facility manufactured water gas [a kind of fuel gas], butane, and propane. Their facility was on Ponahawai street, down by Kamehameha Highway; Hilo Gas Company constructed its original oil-gas facility on the site in 1917.

“By 1935, the facility could produce 120,000 cubic feet of gas in eight hours. The facility was upgraded periodically, and over the years included a 45,000-gallon capacity above ground fuel storage tank, two 52,000-cubic foot gas holder tanks, a gas generator, a water filter, a scrubber tower, storage tanks, gas purifiers and pressurized gas cylinders.”

“The manufactured gas process was reportedly operated 24 hours per day and involved the injection of pre-heated crude oil and steam in a fire brick-lined gas generator to produce the raw gas. The crude oil was delivered to the site by rail car and stored in the 45,000-gallon storage tank.” (Weston)

“In 1948 and 1949 Hilo Gas lost money and was in financial difficulties. In the spring of 1950, Orlando Lyman, its president and largest stockholder, approached AE Englebright, the general manager of [Pacific Refiners], for assistance in solving the problems of Hilo Gas.”

“It was first proposed that Hilo Gas should cease the manufacture of gas and buy butane from Refiners, thus saving manufacturing costs. Further negotiations, in which alternative plans were considered, proved unsuccessful.”

“About the middle of September, 1950, Lyman offered to sell his shares of Hilo Gas to Refiners or Honolulu Gas. With his stock and that of another stockholder who was willing to sell, Refiners could acquire in excess of 75% of Hilo’s stock.”

“The original plan of Refiners as controlling stockholder of Hilo Gas had been to sell the utility assets to Honolulu Gas and dissolve Hilo Gas at such a time as the directors determined to be convenient.”

“On September 27, 1950, the directors of Honolulu Gas authorized the acquisition of the assets of Hilo Gas … subject to the approval of the Public Utilities Commission.” (Hawaiian Trust Co. v. United States, 1961)

“Purchase of the recently organized Pacific Refiners, Ltd is the first step in moves which will ultimately lead to acquisition of the Hilo utility firm by the Honolulu Gas Co.” (HTH Oct 7, 1950)

“‘The purchase by Pacific Refiners and ultimately by Honolulu Gas Co. means in effect,’ Mr. Lycurgus asserted, ‘the investment of some 2,500 gas consumers in over a quarter of a million dollars in gas appliances has been saved.’ Better utility service and lower rates sum up the ultimate effects of the purchase, according to Mr Lycurgus.” (HTH Oct 7, 1950)

On May 22, 1960, a tsunami struck Hilo town, destroying many homes and businesses, and claiming 61 lives while causing $24 million in damage. The Hilo Gas Company facility was destroyed. 

Following the disaster, the State of Hawaii assumed ownership of the parcel and designated it part of a tsunami buffer zone. Hilo Gas Company relocated to an inland site and recommenced operations in 1962.  (Weston)

In 1960, “The gas-fired luau torch, developed by Honolulu Gas Co, has been accepted for patent by the US Patent Office … Gasco engineers first developed it in 1953, and have since made refinements.”

“The company says thousands now are used in Honolulu, and that a ‘considerable quantity’ is sold on the Mainland … Queen’s Surf had the first major installation here.” (Adv Dec 3, 1960)

What was Hilo Gas is now a part of The Gas Company, LLC dba Hawaii Gas.  The Gas Company has grown to serve Oahu, Hawaii, Maui, Kauai, Molokai, and Lanai. (Legislature)

(In 1997 folks found that the former Hilo Gas site was contaminated with Poly Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs), Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), and sulfide compounds stemming largely from Hilo Gas Company’s former activity on-site.)

(In response, the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) encapsulated and removed the contaminated soil in a plastic liner resembling a ‘burrito.’ The burrito was left near the site until 2004 when Hawai‘i Health Department, USACE, and the County of Hawai‘i removed the extracted soil encapsulated in the burrito and the additional soil from the second portion of the site. (EPA))

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

$25,000 Annuity

“In an interview, ex-Queen Liliuokalani said of the proposed treaty between the United States and Hawaii: ‘Fifteen hundred people are giving away my country.’”

“‘The people of my country do not want to be annexed to the United States. Nor do the people of the United States wants annexation. It is the work of 1,500 people, mostly Americans, who have settled in Hawaii. Of this number those who are not native born Americans are of American parentage.’”

“‘None of my people want the island annexed. The population of the islands is 109,000. Of this number 40,000 are native Hawaiians. The rest are Americans, Germans, Portuguese, Japanese, Chinese, English and a small proportion from other countries. The 1,500 Americans who are responsible for what was done to-day are running the affairs of the islands.’”

“‘There is no provision made in this treaty for me. In the Harrison treaty I was allowed $20,000 a year, but that treaty never went into effect. I have never received one dollar from the United States.’”

“‘No one looked after my interests in the preparation of this treaty. Yet my people, who form so large a part of the population of the islands, would want justice done me.’” (Los Angeles Herald, June 18, 1897)

Then, a couple American newspapermen (Charles L MacArthur, a former New York state senator and then editor of the local newspaper in Troy NY and William Shaw Bowen, a journalist with the New York World newspaper) independently supported an effort to arrange a $25,000 annuity to Liliʻuokalani.

In responding to questions noted in the Morgan Report, MacArthur stated, “I went to Mr. Dole. I had trouble in my own mind as to whether the Queen had not some personal rights in the crown lands, for the reason that the treasury department had never asked her to make a return on the income …”

“… which was about $75,000 a year, from these lands and which she had received, and as the treasury had never asked her for a return I thought she had an individual right in the lands.”

“I said to the people, ‘She has individual rights, and you have not asked her to make a return to the treasury of what she has received and what she did not receive.’ The President explained it all to me, the grounds of it. “

“When Mr. Neuman indicated that they were willing – I had made the suggestion and others had – that they ought to buy her out, pay her a definite sum, $25,000 or some other sum per year for her rights.”

“Her rights had been shattered, but I thought they ought to pay for them, and so I went, in accordance with Mr. Neuman’s suggestion, or by his consent, to see President Dole.”

“Mr. Neuman said he wanted to talk with President Dole about this matter, but he had not been there officially, and he could not go there publicly to his official place. I talked with Mr. Dole, and Mr Dole said he could not officially do anything without consulting his executive committee …”

“… but he said he would be very happy to meet Mr. Neuman and see what they wanted – see if they could come to any terms about this thing by which the Queen would abdicate and surrender her rights.”

“Mr. Neuman and his daughter called, nominally for the daughter to see Mrs. Dole, so that it could not get out, if they made a call, they could say it was merely a social call, not an official call.”

“Of course, I do not know what their conversation was; but Mr. Neuman, acting on that, called on the Queen. Mr. Dole and Mr. Neuman both impressed on me the importance of not having this thing get out, or the whole thing would go up in smoke. Mr. Neuman said he could bring this thing about if he could keep it from the Queen’s retainers – her people.”

“He said, ‘That is the difficulty about this thing.’ This matter went on for three or four days. Mr. Neuman saw the Queen and she agreed not to say anything about it, so Mr. Neuman tells me, and I got it from other sources there which I think are reliable. They came to some sort of understanding; I do not know what it was.”

“They went so far as to say this woman would not live over three or four years; that she had some heart trouble; and if they gave her $25,000 a year it would not be for a long time. … Mr. Neuman said she assented to it, if she could satisfy one or two of her people.”

Bowen noted in testimony in the Morgan Report, “One day while dining with Paul Neuman I said: ‘I think it would be a good thing if the Queen could be pensioned by the Provisional Government; it would make matters harmonious, relieve business, and make matters much simpler.’”

“I also said that I was aware that certain gentlemen in Washington were opposed to pensioning the Queen; that certain Senators raised that objection to the treaty that was brought from the islands because it recognized the principle of the right of a queen to a pension.”

“There was one Senator, especially, from the South, who said, without discussing the treaty, that that was objectionable to him; that his people would object to it. I said, “If there is no annexation it is a serious question; if there is, the Queen should be taken care of.”

“Neuman agreed with me. He was a strong friend of the Queen, disinterested and devoted. But he said it could not be done. I told him that I had become acquainted with the members of the Provisional Government who were high in authority, and I thought I would try to have it done.”

“Mr. Dole said he would not make any propositions himself and asked me what I thought the pension ought to be. On the spur of the moment, not having considered the matter, I said I thought the Queen ought to get a very handsome pension out of the crown lands.”

“I asked if there was any question about raising the money, and he said none whatever. He finally asked me to name the figures. He had the idea that the figures had been suggested. I said, ‘You ought to give $20,000 a year to furnish her followers with poi. That is the native dish.’ Mr. Dole said he would consider that question.”

“The result was that Mr. Dole told Mr. Neuman that if the Queen would make such a proposition to him it would receive respectful attention and intimated that he thought it would be accepted. Mr. Seaman saw the Queen and told me that he thought it would be done; that the more he thought of it the more convinced he was that it would be better all around.”

“In the meantime he (Blount) had been to the Queen, to Mr. Dole, and had done what he could to prevent the carrying out of the plan. Mr. Neuman had an interview with the Queen.”

“She told him that she would do nothing more in the matter, and asked him to give back her power of attorney, and he tore it up in her presence. This was the 22d, that he tore up his power of attorney.”

“On the 21st instant Mr. Claus Spreckels called to see me. He said that he suspected there was an effort at negotiation between the Queen and the Provisional Government, and that he had urged the Queen to withdraw her power of attorney from Paul Neumann.”

“How much or how little Mr. Spreckels knows about this matter I am unable to say, as I do not know how to estimate him, never having met him before. He promised to see me again before the mail leaves for the United States on next Wednesday, and give me such information as he could acquire in the meantime.”

“I have no doubt whatever that if Mr. Blount had not prevented, and secondarily Mr. Claus Speckels, the agent for the sugar trust, that plan would have been carried out. I have no doubt of it in my own mind.” (Bowen; Morgan Report)

“Thus Blount intervened to scuttle negotiations between the Queen and President Dole that were strongly on track toward a mutually agreeable settlement whereby the Queen would give up all claims to the throne in return for an annuity.” (MorganReport)

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Liliuokalani_in_1917
Liliuokalani_in_1917

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

New ‘Road’ into the Ala Wai

In the early-1900s, Lucius Pinkham, then President of the Territorial Board of Health and later Governor, developed the idea of constructing a drainage canal to drain the wetlands, which he considered “unsanitary.”  This called for the construction of a canal to reclaim the marshland.

The Waikīkī Reclamation District was identified as the approximate 800-acres from King and McCully Streets to Kapahulu Street, near Campbell Avenue down to Kapiʻolani Park and Kalākaua Avenue on the makai side (1921-1928.)  The dredge material not only filled in the makai Waikīkī wetlands, but it was also used to fill in the McKinley High School site.

During the 1920s, the Waikīkī landscape would be transformed when the construction of the Ala Wai Drainage Canal, begun in 1921 and completed in 1928, resulted in the draining and filling in of the remaining ponds and irrigated fields of Waikīkī.

By 1924, the dredging of the Ala Wai Canal and filling of the wetlands stopped the flows of the Pi‘inaio, ‘Āpuakēhau and Kuekaunahi streams running from the Makiki, Mānoa, and Pālolo valleys to and through Waikīkī.

With construction of the Ala Wai Canal, 625-acres of wetland were drained and filled and runoff was diverted away from Waikīkī beach.  The completion of the Ala Wai Canal not only gave impetus to the development of Waikīkī as Hawai‘i’s primary visitor destination, but also expanded the district’s potential for residential use.

Then, in 1956, Hawaiian Electric installed cables across the Ala Wai Canal to provide Waikīkī with additional electric power capacity. (HECO)

As part of the installation process, “A ‘road’ nearly spanning the Ala Wai has appeared almost overnight, surprising thousands of passers-by who are accustomed to seeing the canal as an unbroken ribbon of water from Kapahulu to the sea.”

“But Hawaiian Electric Co. assured the public yesterday that the ‘road’ would stay there only as long as to bury a 44,000-volt cable needed to bring more electricity to an expanding Waikiki.”

“The ‘road’ will support cranes which will dig a trench 23 feet deep and four feet wide under the Ala Wai. Then the cable will be laid across the canal, down Kaiolu St. and ino the Waikiki sub station.”

“Erling V Schoenberg, Hawaiian Electric’s superintendent for the job, said the Ala Wai ‘road’ was the cheapest way of getting the digging equipment into the area.”  (Advertiser, Sep 11, 1956)

“Clam shell cranes will begin digging a ditch in the floor of the Ala Wai from a causeway today or tomorrow, according to Erling V Schoenberg, Hawaiian Electric Company underground superintendent.”

“The dirt and rock causeway was been built four-fifths of the way across the canal from the Iolani School area to Kaiolu Street. A 50-foot passage was left on the makai side for boats.”

“The cranes will dig a trench 23 feet deep and four feet wide under the Ala Wai in which a 44,0000-volt cable will be buried.  When this is accomplished, the causeway will be removed.”  (Star Bulletin, September 11, 1956)

“As electricity use increased, the original cables were replaced in 1990 with higher capacity cables …. In 2002-03, when the Canal was last dredged, it was determined the cables were at risk of damage from dredging.”

“Hawaiian Electric, DLNR and the dredging contractor developed an interim solution to dredge around the cables. The current cable relocation project will be a permanent solution to not interfere with future dredging operations.” (HECO)

Then, “The State Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) plans to dredge the Ala Wai Canal for flood control and increased recreational use starting in 2019, pending approval of permits. Hawaiian Electric currently has 46 kilovolt (kV) electrical cables buried under the canal that must be removed for efficient dredging.”

“Hawaiian Electric plans to install new 46kv cables about 40 feet below the canal using horizontal directional drilling. Once new cables are in service, the old cables will be removed. Hawaiian Electric plans to install new 46kv cables about 40 feet below the canal using horizontal directional drilling.”

“To minimize disruption from conventional trenching in the city streets, Hawaiian Electric will use horizontal directional drilling to install the new cables.”:

“As with any major construction, however, some short-term impacts are unavoidable. Hawaiian Electric will make every effort to limit closed traffic lanes, noise and dust.”  (HECO)

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Levee

Starting about 500 years ago, early Hawaiians used the Kawainui wetland as a fishpond and to grow taro. Dryland crops around the wetland at the time of the Great Mahele included sweet potatoes, gourds, wauke (paper mulberry for making kapa), ‘awa (kava), pia (arrowroot for starch), bananas and sugar cane. (Drigot)

Rice was cultivated from the 1850s to the 1920s and then ranching and grazing became the predominant uses. (Ramsar Wetlands Information Sheet)

In the Māhele, Queen Kalama, Kamehameha III’s wife, received land within the area in and around Kawai Nui.  The land ownership changes which occurred to Queen Kalama’s ownership of the ‘ili of Kawai Nui mirrored the land use changes in general both in the region and in the islands as a whole.

Then, this area encompassing much of the Kailua ahupua‘a, was inherited by her stepfather and uncle. He promptly sold it in 1871 to a haole, Charles Coffin Harris, an American lawyer, who had by that time consolidated claim to the ahupua‘a of Kāne‘ohe as well as that of Kailua.

One of his children, Nannie Roberta Harris, became sole heir to the Harris estate, including the Kailua ahupua‘a at that time. She owned the Kailua ahupua‘a until 1917 when she and her husband sold nearly all of their interest in both Kailua and Kāne‘ohe to

Harold KL Castle. (Drigot)

When I was a kid, we referred to this area as the “swamp” – many of the old maps referred to it as such.  Auto parts shops lined the road at its edge; the dump was nearby.

Kawainui is the largest remaining wetland in Hawai‘i, encompassing approximately 830 acres of land in Kailua, Oahu. It provides important habitat for waterbirds and migratory bird species.  (Kawai Nui Marsh Master Plan, 1994; Army Corps)

When it rained hard, there were flood issues … “Damage to private dwellings, farms and property in Kailua was caused today by flood waters backing up from the swamp land in the Coconut Grove area. Residents said water was more than three feet deep in some places and was rising.” (Star Bulletin, Mary 13, 1940)

Flooding was not the only local concern … “We want to eliminate the mosquito problem and we want to reclaim the area, if possible.” (Castle; Drigot)

As late as 1956, the Kaneohe Ranch had installed a vertical pump and began pumping with such energy that, four months later, the water table of the Marsh had dropped “almost four feet and made the once forbidding marsh a lush grazing land”. (Drigot)

A stream runs through Oneawa ‘ili to the sea, providing a natural drainage for the Kawainui marsh. The Oneawa Canal (Kawainui Canal, former approximate location of Kawainui Stream) was constructed in the 1950s to provide flood control and stability for real estate development.  (Dye)

The Oneawa Canal connects Kawainui Marsh to Kailua Bay, is 9,470 feet long, and is located at the northeast corner of Kawainui Marsh. The upper streams and surface water stored in the marsh are freshwater, while the salinity of water within Oneawa Canal is brackish and tidally influenced. (Army Corps)

“Even though the Oneawa Channel (Kawainui Canal) was constructed in 1950 to prevent the major flooding of the Kailua residential area situated on the edge of the marsh, five subsequent severe floods occured in 1951, 1956, 1958, 1961 and 1963.” (Drigot)

“In 1964, after a two year intense battle for development rights to the central portion of Kawainui Marsh, Centex-Trousdale Construction Co. surrendered its claim and the City of Honolulu emerged victorious in its seven-year battle to acquire 749 acres of the Marsh for flood control and park purposes when, with federal assistance, they purchased the Centex-Trousdale properties”. (Drigot)

Then, they built a levee … “Construction of the original Kawai Nui Marsh Flood Control Project was authorized by the Flood Control Act of 1950 and was completed in August 1966 by the Corps. Project features included … a 6,850-foot-long earthen levee with a maximum crest elevation of 9.5 feet; a 50-foot-long stub groin and 50-foot-long revetment at the outlet of Oneawa Channel”.  (Army Corps)

Over the years, vegetation within the marsh created a dense mat that affected the hydraulics of the marsh causing the project to be overtopped during the January 1988 storm.

“From December 31, 1987 through January 1, 1988, severe flooding of the Coconut Grove community occurred when the water level in the marsh exceeded the crest of the existing levee. Following this storm event, an emergency ditch was excavated alongside the levee to increase outflow from the marsh.” (Army Corps)

The floodwall has a maximum height of four feet and is 6,300 feet long extending from Kailua Road on the south to the Oneawa outlet channel on the north. The levee fills 1.8 acres of wetland fringe and provides a higher level of flood damage reduction to a larger part of Coconut Grove, which has more than 2,000 structures. (Army Corps)

By then, the Kawainui wetland reference had changed from “swamp” to “marsh.”  More recently, Kawainui Marsh was recognized as a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance in 2005 for its historical, biological, and cultural significance. (DLNR)

Ramsar is the name of the city in Iran where the Ramsar Convention, or the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, was signed in 1971 and came into force in 1975.

Ramsar is not an acronym, and the convention is also known as “Ramsar”. The convention’s goals are to stop the loss of wetlands worldwide and to conserve the remaining wetlands through management and use.  (Ramsar Convention of Wetlands)

Sacred to Hawaiians, Kawainui Marsh, the largest remaining emergent wetland in Hawaii and Hawai‘i’s largest ancient freshwater fishpond, is located in what was once the center of a caldera of the Ko‘olau shield volcano.

The marsh provides primary habitat for four of Hawai‘i’s endemic and endangered waterbirds (Hawaiian Duck, koloa; Hawaiian Coot (‘alae ke‘oke‘o); Hawaiian Moorhen (‘alae ‘ula) and Hawaiian Stilt (kukuluae‘o (abbreviated as ae‘o)) and contains archaeological and cultural resources, including ancient walled taro lo‘i where fish were also cultivated. (Ramsar)

In addition, the levee has become a pathway that people within the surrounding community use for walking, running and biking.  Other recreation includes bird and wildlife watching.

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Old Koloa Town

“Koloa is the product of all of the peoples and cultures who have come to live there … ‘Families were close, and there was more than enough love for children and the elderly. . . . Hard work and character were respected as were other old fashioned values such as cleanliness, decency and courtesy.’”

“‘Crime was virtually unknown . . . the people of Koloa did not have to contend with the negative aspects we have in so many parts of our country today: illegitimacy, drug use, senseless violence at a presumed slight, or the rioting and looting that destroy a community . . .”

“. . . those who were old enough to remember Koloa as children and are still with us agree the high water-mark was in the thirties; and the tide has been receding slowly since’”. Donohugh; Bushnell)

“The last direct hit [to Kauai] was by Hurricane Dot in 1959. Dot passed south of Oahu but took a sudden turn to the north and hit Kauai, its eye passing right over Lihue.”

On November 23, 1982, “Hurricane Iwa aimed winds gusting to 110 mph at Hawaii Tuesday and 5,000 residents of Kauai island were evacuated from the storm that posed the fiercest threat to the islands since 1959.” (UPI)

“Property loss was estimated at $130 million by Thomas C. Hamner, the Federal emergency relief coordinator. … Some landmarks are gone, particularly along the island’s south coast, which were hit by the strongest winds.” (NY Times)

Old Kōloa Town grew up around the Plantation industry, attracting people to come work there from many different countries. Plantation workers not only labored, lived and shopped on the plantation, they also received medical care.

Kōloa’s buildings housed plantation stores and services for these people, including Kauai’s first hotel. Kōloa was the center of agriculture and, as such, became the center of activity for Kauai.

“Of course, we heard there was going to be a hurricane, so I had the radio on. And I was watching. And they start telling that, ‘You people better be prepared with candles or something because the lights going off.’  And I looked around all over the place, and I just couldn’t find one candle. And I thought, ‘I better go up to the store and get one.’”

“When I opened the door, it was just cats and dogs. It was raining and blowing. I said, ‘Oh, no. I’m not going.’ So I shut the door, and then I looked in all the drawers, and finally I found one big one that in the restaurants, in the hotels, they use in the cup?”

“Those, yeah. I had one of those, so I thought, ‘Oh, this should last.’ So I had it here. I sat here and I looked outside and it was blowing gales. And I thought, ‘Chee, I better sit here. And just in case the house should come down, then if I lay down between here, then it will protect me.’”

“Then, next morning, early, I went out, I see my neighbor’s house, Aoki’s house, the roof had all flown away, the living room. And then, the roof flied, was way over on the other side of the bridge and some was on the bushes.” (Kōloa resident, Masako Hanzawa Sugawa; UH Oral History)

Hurricane ʻIwa damaged some of the structures in the town, most were simply old.  Then, a group called Kōloa Town Associates (KTA) persuaded the Smith‐Waterhouse Family Partnership to grant the group a long-term lease on the property comprising the core of the town.

The stated intention was to restore the historic structures in this part of Kōloa. Project architect Spencer Leineweber and landscape architect Michael S Chu collaborated in preparing the overall master plan and detailed design work for the restoration and repair of Old Koloa Town.

The challenge for the design team was to preserve the town without imposing twentieth century aesthetics. The focus for the development was on three major principles: design, organization, and economic restructuring. (Leineweber & Chu)

“As he had done with several Chinatown properties, Gerrell is trying out his ‘preservation and profit’ formula to ‘return Koloa Town to its original appearance’ and attract more visitors to Kauai.” (SB, May 12, 1983)

“[Bob] Gerell … doing business as Koloa Town Associates, has signed a 67-year lease with the Mabel P Waterhouse Trust. Waterhouse has owned much of the town’s commercial property since 1850.”

“Gerell has begun refurbishing 18 buildings on four acres of land in the original town … He plans to demolish some ‘unsalvageable’ structures and build six or seven new structures with space for up to 25 tenants.” (SB May 12, 1983)

“When we took over, there were 18 original plantation-style buildings. Our intent was to renovate them back to this original appearance. We were able to save 13, but the rest were in such bad condition that they had to be torn down.” (Gerell, SB, Aug 29, 1984)

“The design development of the oldest area, known as the Kahalewai Court, concentrated on restoration of the old general store and the old hotel building. Since the Yamamoto Store has the strongest visual image for Koloa, this area will become the visual gateway to the development.”

“The area will have an open lawn for outdoor performances. A dry stream bed will meander through the area to provide a necessary relief drainage system. It is quite common in older developments that the buildings are not always positioned in the most ideal locations for drainage.”

“Since the existing relationship with the ground was critical to the overall perception and scale of the buildings, a secondary drainage system that was not foreign to the old town was added so that the original ground drainage patterns could remain.”

“The second area in the town’s development was the Plantation House Shops. As the plantation expanded, housing for the workers began to develop around the town. A portion of these residential buildings will be developed into small craftsman-style shops. The landscape development in this area will be residential in scale and have that ‘chopsuey’ look of many plantation villages.”

“The last area of the town to develop was the false front ‘old west’ commercial structures. These buildings will once again have canopies over the sidewalk and boardwalks connecting the buildings to each other. Large shop windows that have been boarded up for years will once again display merchandise.” (Leineweber & Chu)

The wooden walkway along Kōloa Road in front of the buildings was added to facilitate tourist shopping. Some attention was paid to exterior features such as false fronts to give an appearance from the street similar to the original. Kōloa Town Associates named the resulting group of new buildings ‘Old Kōloa Town’ and leased them to businesses catering to tourists.

Although the majority of the structures were in an extremely dilapidated condition when the project began, the emphasis of the renovation was to bring the historic assets of the town back into focus. Techniques for accomplishing this include the careful repair of cornice moldings, small window panes, decorative rail work, as well as substantial replacement of structural beams and roofings. (Leineweber & Chu)

“One of the distinct advantages of a shopping center, organization of the tenants, was applied to Koloa. Since the developer, Mr. Robert Gerell, has a sixty-seven-year master lease with the landowner, all of the shops can have a similar lease. This arrangement gives them common marketing advantages (promotions, sales, common store hours, signage).”

“The merchants begin to give up the idea of being the biggest and the best on the block and seek a stronger image of being part of a larger whole.”

“The revitalization of any area cannot happen overnight. The emphasis is not on instant solution to problems that have taken years to develop. A gradual but steady program of improvements based on a flexible master plan is essential in anticipating the dynamics of this town of Koloa.” (Leineweber & Chu)

Monkeypod trees are the signature of Kōloa Town. The trees line Kōloa, Weliweli, Waikomo and Po‘ipū Roads. They enhance the character and atmosphere of Hawai‘i’s first plantation town.

Two monkeypod seeds were been brought to Hawai‘i from Mexico by Mr. Peter Brinsdale who was the American Consul in 1847. The seeds were germinated and the seedlings planted. One was planted in Kōloa. The second seedling was planted in Honolulu. This tree was removed when the Alexander Young Hotel was built on the site.

Old Koloa Town is part of the region’s Holo Holo Kōloa Scenic Byway.  We prepared the Corridor Management Plan for the Byway. The CMP was recognized with a “Preservation Commendation” from Historic Hawai‘i Foundation and the American Planning Association – Hawaiʻi Chapter presented Hoʻokuleana LLC with the “Community-Based Planning” award.

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