Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kahahana

At the time of Captain Cook’s arrival (1778-1779), the Hawaiian Islands were divided into four kingdoms: (1) the island of Hawaiʻi under the rule of Kalaniʻōpuʻu, who also had possession of the Hāna district of east Maui; (2) Maui (except the Hāna district,) Molokai, Lānai and Kahoʻolawe, ruled by Kahekili; (3) Oʻahu, under the rule of Kahahana; and (4) Kauai and Niʻihau, Kamakahelei was ruler.

Kahahana was high-born and royally-connected. His father was Elani, one of the highest nobles in the ʻEwa district on Oʻahu, a descendant of the ancient lords of Lihue. His mother was Kaionuilalahai, a sister of Peleioholani, King of Oʻahu, and a cousin of Kahekili, King of Maui.  (Fornander)

While still a child, Kahahana was sent to Maui to grow  up into young manhood in close contact with one of the most noted courts among the different island kings – the court of his relative, Kahekili.

Educated in all the athletic and warlike exercises, Kahahana was remarkable for his personal beauty and manly bearing. Handsome, brave and gallant, he was the idol of the Maui court and the pride of the Oʻahu aristocracy.  (Fornander)

In 1773, back on Oʻahu, Kūmahana was High Chief.  For six generations, Oʻahu Chiefs had always been loyal to the Kākuhihewa family and they were looked upon as their representative on the Oʻahu throne.  Here, Kualiʻi and Peleioholani (grandfather and father of Kūmahana) set a standard.

Kualiʻi was celebrated for his long life and other qualities.  Stern but just, Peleioholani’s reign was a blessing to his kingdom of Oʻahu, which probably had never since the days of Maʻilikūkahi stood higher in population, wealth, and resources, than at the time of his death.  (Fornander)

Not so for Kūmahana.  His weaknesses and extravagancies were enough in three short years to alienate chiefs, priests and commoners.

While leadership was typically assumed via conquest or heredity, under Kūmahana, Chiefs, in conjunction with the High-priest Kaʻōpulupulu, called a public meeting to consider the situation of the country and for the avowed purpose of deposing Kūmahana.

Not a voice was heard nor a spear raised in defense of Kūmahana, who then and there was publicly decreed incompetent and unworthy to rule the Oʻahu kingdom. That meeting and the manner of the execution of its decree find few parallels in the most civilized of modern countries, where the people had to resort to revolution to protect the best interests of their country and their own well-being.  (Fornander)

Though Kūmahana had grown-up children at the time, the Oahu nobles passed them by in selecting a successor to the throne.  It was decided that Kahahana was the most available of all who could be accepted for their future ruler; this was the second king to be elected to succeed to the throne of Oʻahu, the first being Maʻilikūkahi who was his ancestor.

Kahahana was still in Kahekili’s court on Maui at the time and when approached to release Kahahana to return to Oʻahu, Kahekili turned to Kahahana and said, “I permit you to go. Only do me this favor, that when you are firmly established on O‘ahu, you let the land of Kualoa and the ivory that drifts ashore (palaoa-pae) be mine; let these be my property on the island.”  (Kamakau)

Then the chiefs, lesser chiefs, priests, counselors, warriors and commoners gathered from the mountains of the interior to the seacoast at the principal place at Waikīkī to make Kahahana Chief over O‘ahu.  When word of Kahekili’s request was made known to Kaʻōpulupulu he responded, “if you give away these things your authority will be lost.”  (Kamakau)

“To Kualoa belong the water courses of your ancestors, Kalumalumaʻi and Kekaiheheʻe; the sacred drums of Kapahuʻulu, and the spring of Kahoʻahuʻula; the sacred hill of Kauakahi son of Kahoʻowaha of Kualoa. Without the ivory that drifts ashore you could not offer to the gods the first victim slain in battle; it would be for Kahekili to offer it on Maui, and the rule would become his. You would no longer be ruler.”  (Koʻolaupoko HCC)

In Hawaiian tradition, the lands of Kualoa were considered to be the symbol of sovereignty and independence for Oahu, and were closely protected by the Oahu chiefs and priests.  (NPS)

The ahupuaʻa of Kualoa was once famed for the “ivory that drifts ashore (Palaoa-pae)”. The combination of wind, current and reef brought to the Kualoa shoreline the bodies of dead whales.  Whale ivory that washed ashore was considered sacred.

One of the most powerful symbols of status was the whale tooth lei or lei niho palaoa. The beaches of Kualoa on O‘ahu were a major collection point for whale ivory and as such this ‘āina was considered the spot to control in order to possess all of O‘ahu. (Bishop Museum)

Kaʻōpulupulu also strongly stated that if Kahahana had obtained the kingdom by conquest, he might do as he liked, but having been chosen by the Oʻahu chiefs, it would be wrong in him to cede to another the national emblems of sovereignty and independence. Kahahana and the chiefs agreed with Kaʻōpulupulu’s arguments, decided not to comply with the Kahekili’s demands.

All seemed OK, for a while.  When war broke out between Kalaniopuʻu of Hawaiʻi Island and Kahekili in 1779, Kahahana had come to the aid of Kahekili.

Later, things soured.

“At that time, Kahekili was plotting for the downfall of Kahahana and the seizure of Oʻahu and Molokai, and the queen of Kauai was disposed to assist him in these enterprises.”  (Kalākaua)

In a meeting between Kahahana and Kahekili, Kahekili deceived Kahahana by having him believe Kaʻōpulupulu had offered the government and throne of Oʻahu to him (Kahekili), but that out of affection for his nephew he had refused; and he intimated strongly that Kaʻōpulupulu was a traitor to Kahahana.

Kahahana believed the falsehoods and it subsequently caused friction between Kahahana and Kaʻōpulupulu and the Oʻahu King turned a deaf ear to his kahuna’s advice and by the later part of 1782 or beginning of 1783, he arranged to have Kaʻōpulupulu killed.

With his main obstacle removed, Kahekili prepared for an invasion against Oʻahu and Kahahana.  He landed at Waikīkī in the beginning of 1783.  Kahekili, dividing his forces in three columns, marched from Waikīkī by Pūowaina (Punchbowl,) Pauoa and Kapena to battle Kahahana and his forces.

Kahahana’s army was routed, and he and his wife fled to the mountains.  For nearly two years or more they wandered over the mountains, secretly aided, fed and clothed by his supporters.  Kahekili’s warriors finally found and killed Kahahana.

Kahekili and his eldest son and heir-apparent, Kalanikūpule, conquered Kahahana, adding Oʻahu under his control.   (Kahekili’s son, Kalanikūpule, inherited his kingdom; Oʻahu was later lost to Kamehameha in the Battle of Nuʻuanu (1795.))

The image shows Kualoa (KualoaRanch.)  Lots of information here from Kamakau and Fornander.

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

The Mormon Mission

New England Congregationalists first brought Protestant Christianity to the Islands in 1820.  Roman Catholic missionaries came to Hawaiʻi in 1827.  Quakers came in 1835; Methodists came in 1855 and members of the Church of England arrived in 1862.

As early as 1844, missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (popularly called the Mormons or LDS Church) were working among the Polynesians in Tahiti and surrounding islands.

“The Mormons are said to have commenced their mission in 1850. Their converts are scattered over all the islands.   They number about nine per cent of all those who in the census returns have reported their religious affiliations.  This mission owns a small sugar plantation at Laie, on the island of Oʻahu.”  (The Friend, December 1902)

The Church traces its beginnings to Joseph Smith, Jr.  On April 6, 1830 in Western New York, Smith and five others incorporated The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Fayette, New York.

In the summer of 1850, in California, elder Charles C Rich called together more elders to establish a mission in the Sandwich Islands.  They arrived December 12, 1850.  Later, more came.

The first gathering place for Mormon missionaries was established in the Palawai Basin on the island of Lānaʻi, in 1854.  By 1855, the church claimed about 4,650 Hawaiian converts with more than 50 organized congregations scattered through several villages in the Islands.

In 1855, a Hawaiian edition of the Book of Mormon was printed through the help of George Q. Cannon, William Farrer and a native Hawaiian named Jonatana H. Napela.  (Mormonism Research Ministry)

In March 1865, Brigham Young (President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1847 until his death in 1877,) in a letter to King Kamehameha V, requested permission to locate an agricultural colony in Lāʻie. The king granted his request.

That year, Mormon missionaries (Francis Asbury Hammond and George Nebeker) purchased 6,000-acres of the ahupuaʻa of Laiewai to Laiemaloʻo (in Koʻolauloa) from Mr. Thomas T Dougherty for the Mormon Church.

One thousand acres were arable the remaining land was used for woodland and pasture for 500-head of cattle, 500-sheep, 200-goats and 25-horses (which were all included in the price ($14,000.))

At the time, sugar production was growing in scale; in addition to farming for food for the mission, the Lāʻie land was considered to have a good potential for growing sugar cane.

In 1867, the first sugar cane was planted; in 1868 a mule-powered mill was installed.  This provided income and financial sustainability.  A new mill was built in 1881 and production increased.  Sugar provided the positive economic impact and gave financial support to the Mormon Church in Hawaiʻi.

The sugar produced at the mill had to be transferred by oxen teams to a landing where it was placed on a small boat carried through the surf and loaded on a steamship for transport to JT Waterhouse Company, agent of the plantation, in Honolulu.

Part of the area of the plantation now serves as the location for the Hawaiʻi Temple, the campus of Brigham Young University-Hawaii and one of the most popular locations in Hawaiʻi for visitors, the Polynesian Culture Center.

On October 16, 1875, the Mormon Church organized Brigham Young Academy at Provo, Utah. It eventually became Brigham Young University.  On September 26, 1955, the Mormons started the two-year “Church College of Hawaiʻi” (CCH) in Lāʻie in war surplus buildings with 153 students and 20 faculty/administrators.

In 1889, several Hawaiian members of the Mormon faith were interested in being closer to the temples and headquarters of the Church in Utah and left Hawaiʻi and established the Iosepa Colony in Tooele County’s Skull Valley.

“Iosepa,” meaning Joseph in Hawaiian and named for the Mormon prophet Joseph Smith and for Joseph F Smith, who went to the Hawaiian Islands as a missionary in 1854.

Former Queen Liliʻuokalani was baptized a member of the LDS Church on July 7, 1906.

The LDS Temple in Lāʻie – started in 1915 and dedicated on Thanksgiving Day 1919 – was the first such temple to be built outside of continental North America.

The 47,224-square-foot temple’s exterior is concrete made of crushed lava rock from the area and tooled to a white cream finish.  It attracted more islanders from throughout the South Pacific.

Utah’s Iosepa Colony lasted as a community until 1917, at which time the residents returned to Hawaiʻi where the Hawaiian Mormon Temple was under construction.

By the 1920s, LDS Church missionaries had carried their Christian teachings to all the major island groups of Polynesia, by living among the people and speaking their languages.

In 1960, CCH students performed in “The Polynesian Panorama” at the Kaiser Dome in Waikīkī (this program was the forerunner to the performances at Polynesian Cultural Center.)

Then in 1963, the Polynesian Cultural Center opened in Lāʻie.  On April 13, 1974, Church College of Hawaiʻi was renamed Brigham Young University-Hawaiʻi Campus.

There are now about 75,000-Mormons living in Hawaiʻi, or about 5 percent of the overall population.  There are 143 congregations, two temples and 26-Family Centers.

Worldwide Church membership today is over 17-million; 88,000-Mormon missionaries are currently serving in 350 missions.

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Polynesian Cultural Center

“The Mormons are said to have commenced their mission in 1850. Their converts are scattered over all the islands.   They number about nine per cent of all those who in the census returns have reported their religious affiliations.  This mission owns a small sugar plantation at Laie, on the island of Oʻahu.”  (The Friend, December 1902)

The Mormon mission purchased approximately 6,000-acres of land in Lāʻie in 1865; at the time, sugar production was growing in scale; in addition to farming for food for the mission, the Lāʻie land was considered to have a good potential for growing sugar cane.

In 1867, the first sugar cane was planted and was later expanded with the Lāʻie Plantation.  Sugar provided the positive economic impact and gave financial support to the Mormon Church in Hawaiʻi.  However, in the 1920s, the plantation had financial problems and the Church later leased sugar lands to Kahuku Plantation Company.

As the Lāʻie sugar industry declined, tourism to Hawaiʻi was growing,

Looking for new sources of revenue to the Church and its members, they looked to exploit the tourism market through the ‘hukilau’ at Lāʻie Bay (visitors pulling (huki) an arced net with leaves (lau) from the beach -to pull [a] rope with ti leaves [and a net attached.])

Each hukilau attracted several hundred tourists from Honolulu.  After the tourists helped pull the nets and the fish to shore, the residents of Lāʻie entertained them with songs, dances, activities, storytelling and feasting.  (Webb)

Then, in 1955, the Mormons started the “Church College of Hawaiʻi” (CCH) in Lāʻie (in 1974, the school changed its name to Brigham Young University-Hawaiʻi Campus (BYU-Hawaiʻi.)  Church officials looked for ways to provide jobs for the growing student population.

The success of the hukilau and the diversity and number of Polynesian students at the College led to expanded entertainment, including free tram rides to the nearby temple grounds.

In 1959 students and faculty at the Church College of Hawaiʻi organized the “Polynesian Institute” (later renamed “Polynesian Panorama”) and took the show on the road.  CCH students performed first at the International Market Place, then put on larger performances in the Kaiser Hawaiian Dome in Waikīkī.

Two years of shuttling Church College students back and forth to Waikiki for performances convinced decision-makers that a spirited, tourist-oriented Polynesian revue with a student cast was definitely marketable. And although some argued that La’ie was too far from Honolulu, others insisted that the success of the hukilau demonstrated that they could draw audiences large enough to make the venture profitable.  (Webb)

The Polynesian Cultural Center (PCC) was born.

Over 100 “labor missionaries” volunteered to help build the Polynesian Cultural Center’s original 39 structures on a 12-acre site that had previously been planted in taro. Skilled artisans and original materials from the South Pacific were imported to ensure the authenticity of the village houses.

When it opened on October 12, 1963, the PCC adopted some of the successes of the hukilau. The general pattern of cultural activities, a sumptuous meal and a culminating performance of songs and dances became the basic PCC program. Many of those who performed at the hukilau became part of the Center’s original cast.  (Webb)

Since opening, million of visitors have been introduced to the Polynesian people, their arts and customs, and tens of thousands of BYU-Hawaiʻi students have helped finance their educational objectives while working as the friendly guides, performers and other PCC employees serving people from all over the world.

Each of the major Polynesian cultures has its own section, centered on a traditional village. Hourly performances and cultural learning experiences take place in these villages. Villages include:  Hawaii, Samoa, Aotearoa (present-day New Zealand,) Fiji, Tahiti, Tonga and the Marquesas Islands.

In addition to the villages, the PCC has a special exhibit dedicated to Rapa Nui (Easter Island or Isla de Pascua) and a tribute to the 1850s LDS mission.

Over the years, the program and PCC footprint expanded.  An amphitheater built in 1975 now seats almost 2,800 guests.  A 1,000-seat restaurant opened in 1979, and IMAX films, shopping plaza and other features were added.

Now, there are things to do and shows to see, day and night (with Kamaʻaina rates).

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

ʻEwa

Today, you don’t necessarily use the words ʻEwa and Kalo in the same sentence – we tend to think of the ʻEwa district as dry and hot, not as a wetland taro production region.  Some early written descriptions of the place also note the dry ʻEwa Plains.

In 1793, Captain George Vancouver described this area as desolate and barren:  “From the commencement of the high land to the westward of Opooroah (Puʻuloa – Pearl Harbor) was … one barren rocky waste, nearly destitute of verdure, cultivation or inhabitants, with little variation all to the west point of the island. …”

In 1839, Missionary EO Hall described the area between Pearl Harbor and Kalaeloa as follows: “Passing all the villages (after leaving the Pearl River) at one or two of which we stopped, we crossed the barren desolate plain”.  (Robicheaux)

However, not only was ʻEwa productive, its taro was memorable.

Ua ʻai i ke kāī-koi o ‘Ewa.
He has eaten the kāī-koi taro of ‘Ewa.

Kāī is O‘ahu‘s best eating taro; one who has eaten it will always like it. Said of a youth or maiden of ‘Ewa, who, like the Kāī taro, is not easily forgotten.  (ʻŌlelo Noʻeau, 2770, Pukui)

The island of Oʻahu is divided into 6 moku (districts), consisting of: ‘Ewa, Kona, Koʻolauloa, Koʻolaupoko, Waialua and Waiʻanae. These moku were further divided into 86 ahupua‘a (land divisions within a moku.)

‘Ewa was divided into 12-ahupua‘a, consisting of (from east to west): Hālawa, ‘Aiea, Kalauao, Waimalu, Waiau, Waimano, Mānana, Waiʻawa, Waipi‘o, Waikele, Hōʻaeʻae and Honouliuli.

‘Ewa was at one time the political center for O‘ahu chiefs. This was probably due to its abundant resources that supported the households of the chiefs, particularly the many fishponds around the lochs of Puʻuloa (“long hill,) better known today as Pearl Harbor. (Cultural Surveys)  ʻEwa was the second most productive taro cultivation area on Oʻahu (just behind Waikīkī.)  (Laimana)

The salient feature of ‘Ewa, and perhaps its most notable difference, is its spacious coastal plain, surrounding the deep bays (“lochs”) of Pearl Harbor, which are actually the drowned seaward valleys of ‘Ewa’s main streams, Waikele and Waipi‘o…The lowlands, bisected by ample streams, were ideal terrain for the cultivation of irrigated taro.  (Handy, Cultural Surveys)

‘Ewa was known for a special and tasty variety of kalo (taro) called kāī which was native to the district. There were four documented varieties; the kāī ʻulaʻula (red kāī), kāī koi (kāī that pierces), kāī kea or kāī keʻokeʻo (white kāī), and kāī uliuli (dark kāī.)  (Handy)

Handy says about ‘Ewa: “The lowlands, bisected by ample streams, were ideal terrain for the cultivation of irrigated taro. The hinterland consisted of deep valleys running far back into the Koʻolau range.”

“Between the valleys were ridges, with steep sides, but a very gradual increase of altitude. The lower parts of the valley sides were excellent for the culture of yams and bananas. Farther inland grew the ‘awa for which the area was famous.”

“The length or depth of the valleys and the gradual slope of the ridges made the inhabited lowlands much more distant from the wao, or upland jungle, than was the case on the windward coast. Yet the wao here was more extensive, giving greater opportunity to forage for wild foods in famine time. (Handy)

Earlier this century, a few fishermen and some of their families built shanties by the shore where they lived, fished and traded their catch for taro at ‘Ewa. Their drinking water was taken from nearby ponds, and it was so brackish that other people could not stand to drink it.  (Maly)

An 1899 newspaper account says of the kāī koi, “That is the taro that visitors gnaw on and find it so good that they want to live until they die in ‘Ewa. The poi of kai koi is so delicious”. (Ka Loea Kalai ʻĀina 1899, Cultural Surveys) So famous was the kāī variety that ‘Ewa was sometimes affectionately called Kāī o ‘Ewa.

“I think it (wetlands) went all the way behind the Barbers Point beach area. … We’d go swim in the ponds back there, it was pretty deep, about two feet, and the birds were all around. … It seems like when there were storms out on the ocean, we’d see them come into the shore, but they’re not around anymore.”

“The wet land would get bigger when there was a lot of rain, and we had so much fun in there, but now the water has nearly all dried up. They even used to grow wet-land taro in the field behind the elementary school area when I was young. (Arline Wainaha Pu‘ulei Brede-Eaton, Maly Interview)

 ”… Bountiful taro fields covered the plain and countless coconut palms, with several huts in their shade beautified the country side. … The taro fields, the banana plantations, the plantations of sugar cane are immeasurable.” (A Botanist’s Visit to Oahu in 1831, Journal of Dr FJF Meyen, Maly)

“This district, unlike others of the island, is watered by copious and excellent springs that gush out at the foot of the mountains. From these run streams sufficient for working sugar-mills. In consequence of this supply, the district never suffers from drought, and the taro-patches are well supplied with water by the same means.”  (Commander Charles Wilkes, 1840-1841, Maly)

“Rev. Artemas Bishop, in the summer of 1836, removed with his wife and two children from Kailua, Hawaii, to Ewa, Oahu.  … Throughout the district of Ewa the common people were generally well fed. Owing to the decay of population, great breadths of taro marsh had fallen into disuse, and there was a surplus of soil and water for raising food.”  (SE Bishop, The Friend, May 1901)

As in other areas, kalo loʻi converted to rice patties.  “These days at ‘Ewa, the planting of rice is spreading among the Chinese and the Hawaiians, from Hālawa to Honouliuli and beyond. There will come a day when the mother food, taro, shall not be seen on the land.”  (Ka Lahui Hawaii, May 3, 1877, Maly)

Of course, in our discussion of the ʻEwa Moku, we need to remember that it ran from Hālawa to Honouliuli and circled Pearl Harbor.  Much of the watered wetland taro was produced off of streams from the Koʻolau; however, there is considerable mention of the wetland taro of Honouliuli (what we generally refer to today as ʻEwa.)

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kapaʻakea Spring

It was once a perched water-table pond and spring.

It was originally known as Kumulae Spring (Pond – also Kapaʻakea and later Hausten Spring/Pond) and was reportedly the property of Kamāmalu (sister of Kamehameha IV and V.)  She and her brothers loved swimming in the pond; they and others shared food and drinks there.

The spring is the subject of an old legend that tells of a wondrous princess upon whom men’s eyes were forbidden to gaze.  The princess loved the waters of the spring and from time to time she would go there at night and bathe.  In time, the waters of the spring became known for its healing powers.  (Kanahele)

As in much of Oʻahu, geologically, the bedrock is actually reef limestone.  Lava from the upslope Sugarloaf covered the limestone and cooled (with a thickness of about 40-feet.) After cooling of the Sugarloaf lava, alluvium and marshy lagoon sediments accumulated atop much of the limestone.  A few inches of soil covered the top.  (Halliday)

Groundwater flow cut through the limestone forming a karstic drainage system (Karst being a geological formation shaped by the dissolution of a layer or layers of soluble bedrock, such as limestone.)   This region, in and around the lower portions of the University of Hawaiʻi, became part of the Mōʻiliʻili Karst.   Caverns and perched water-table springs and ponds were exposed at the surface.

The best-known of theses ponds was Kumulae.  By the early-1920s, Mr. Hausten purchased and cleared the land, and stocked the pond with koi which interbred with existing fish.   The large clear fishpond quickly became a noted attraction.

It was the family’s garden home with beautiful tropical gardens of flora and fauna.  Emma McGuire “Ma” Hausten was an avid gardener and planted white ginger, water lilies, plumeria from the South Seas, willow trees, kukui trees, breadfruit and fruit trees as well as Hawaiian herbs and medical plants.

The gardens thrived and people asked if they might use the tropical setting for weddings, luaus and parties.  Finally, in the mid-1930s limited private parties were held.  (Willows)

Then, ‘tragedy’ happened.  In the autumn of 1934, the Hausten pond disappeared without warning, draining in less than 24 hours.

It turns out, construction activities downslope from the King-University intersection struck a master conduit in the underground watered cave system.   Water drained out.  Upslope, the results of this dewatering were dramatic.

The master conduit was eventually resealed, the cave’s water table temporarily recharged, but the karst was never the same again.  There have been several instances of collapses since the dewatering. One instance in 1952 involves the Standard Trading store falling through the ground into the karst below it.  Another instance involves the emergence of a large cavern downslope from the King-University intersection.

During World War II, times were tough.  An offer was made for the property; but instead of selling, the family decided to serve light lunches and drinks. In 1944, the Willows Restaurant opened as a club by Emma’s daughter, Kathleen Perry, along with husband Al (30-year musical director of Hawaii Calls,) her brothers Allan and Walter McGuire and other family members.  Together, they presided over a gracious era of Hawaiian music and hospitality during the late-1940s and 1950s.  (Willows)

But after the dewatering, the historic pond was never the same, the continuing drop in the water table especially impacted the Willows Restaurant. The willow trees wilted and the restaurant lost its attractiveness and its customers.

New sinkholes developed. “People living in the vicinity made their way into the caves through holes in their yards and speared fish by the hundreds.”  Several houses “lurched” and settled.  Sidewalks cracked and water and gas mains ruptured. Some trees sank almost 3-feet.  (Halliday)

The spring dried up and a remnant of the pond had to be lined with concrete.  A manmade water feature surrounded by rock and plants has been built to recreate the ambience of the old days.

In 1998, the site was sold and restored. The Willows re-opened its doors on the threshold of a new millennium in 1999, after six years of being closed. It closed again in 2018 and is now operated as a venue and event space with catering.

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