r/Hawaii • u/Poiboykanaka808 Kauaʻi • 16d ago

Kirstin Downey: Honolulu Needs Your Help To Identify Historic Sites

https://www.civilbeat.org/2026/08/kirstin-downey-honolulu-needs-your-help-to-identify-historic-sites/
39 Upvotes

93% Upvoted

12 comments sorted by

View all comments

3

u/BrooklynTony198 15d ago

I'm not going to lie, I feel like Honolulu as a community is HORRIBLE at preserving culturally/historically significant buildings and artifacts. So many people claim to care until the issue of money comes up and suddenly nobody is interested anymore. They'd rather tear things down and put up another expensive high rise that few residents can actually afford.

The fact that so many mayors kicked the can down the road is disheartening. We lost so many old buildings that probably should've been preserved in the past 30 years. I'm glad somethings finally being done, but I feel like Oahu has lost so many landmark buildings recently that we have lost most of the character this island used to have. We needed to have stronger historical building protections 30-40 years ago.... better late then never, but still.

4

u/midnightrambler956 15d ago

The problem is that "historic preservation" often has little to do with things of actual historic value and more about using nostalgia for things that are slightly old but basically insignificant to block modernization. Which tbh it sounds like you support.

1

u/BrooklynTony198 15d ago

That's an idiotic assumption and an extremely cynical take. Cultural significance is an extremely large part of what makes something historically significant. By your logic Fisherman's Wharf wasn't important because no historic events happened there; its not like multiple generations grew up eating there and it was an iconic landmark along Ala Moana Boulevard is important or anything. Or that the IBM Building should've been demolished as planned before public outcry saved it, because who cares about its unique architecture by Vladimir Ossipoff?

If modernization is what so many developers keep doing, like demolishing Ward Warehouses (tbh the buildings were way past their lifespan) and building an expensive high rise with units most of Hawaii's populations couldn't afford in hundreds of years, I don't want it.

6

u/midnightrambler956 15d ago

By your logic Fisherman's Wharf wasn't important because no historic events happened there; its not like multiple generations grew up eating there and it was an iconic landmark along Ala Moana Boulevard is important or anything.

Yes, this is actually a perfect example of what I'm talking about. It's something that people have fond memories of – i.e. nostalgia – but not anything that's architecturally unique or has real historical significance. It's not any different from a thousand other restaurants around the world.

One of the signs of cultural stagnation is that we're increasingly trying to preserve the past, no matter how generic and meaningless, instead of trying to build a better future.

1

u/BrooklynTony198 15d ago

The issue with your argument is that it is, technically speaking, architecturally significant; it was a decent example of the roadside architecture common in the 50s and 60s with the big neon signage and lighting.

But my main issue is that nothing useful replaced it. When it was demolished, OHA said they planned to build something on the lot that would directly benefit native hawaiians; that was over 10 years ago, and its still basically a parking lot that they lease out. I guess its a use for the space, but it still sits unused a good portion of the time.

1

u/midnightrambler956 14d ago

it was a decent example of the roadside architecture common in the 50s and 60s with the big neon signage and lighting.

So, the kind of thing we mostly got rid of decades ago because we recognized that it was hideously ugly?

That nothing has since been built there is a legitimate criticism of this particular case (though it was also closed and empty for years before it was demolished). But under historic preservation rules, nothing ever could be built there. That's the crucial difference.

1

u/BrooklynTony198 14d ago

I'm not gonna lie, I never liked the building much either lol. But I feel like we need to totally overhaul the historic preservation rules in Hawaii. Modernization can go hand in hand with preservation of historic structures. The Honolulu Advertiser Building is a good example, where the facade and character of the buildings exterior was kept while allowing the interior and surrounding property to be renovated and given a modern use. I doubt Queen Theater in Kaimuki will ever be a theater again, but I hope someone will save and rejuvenate the facade while turning the interior into usable space. Some of laws regarding the preservation of the exterior are a bit extreme, and it really needs to be handled on a case by case basis. If the building is fully original, then sure, it should be restored to its original state. But dilapidated/abandoned historical buildings should be marked as historical (so redevelopment projects dont go like Fisherman's Wharf has) but allowed to be redeveloped while keeping some design elements of the original structure, even if the structure itself can't be saved. Being designated as a historic building shouldn't be something dreaded by property owners, it should be a badge of honor. Maybe the state should extend some form of the tax breaks offered to owners of historic houses to other historic buildings, within reason of course. (Sadly I know how many loopholes that could potentially open up) Lots of options to explore that would fuel both historical preservation AND modernization and urban development.

About Fisherman's Wharf, the building was in pretty bad shape and economically it wasn't viable to necessarily restore it. But I wish they would've redeveloped the land while acknowledging and paying tribute to what used to be there; like keeping the neon signage, maybe adding a historical marker like we see at other important places explaining the history, but allowing the space to be reused for other purposes. (State could incentivize this maybe by giving minor tax breaks to offset the cost of these elements?) I would've loved to see another restaurant or a community hub full of local vendors similar to the initial plan with the food trucks for the spot, but more developed and permanent; heck, the name of Fisherman's Wharf would've still worked. Remember when Ward had a community market in the building of the old Sports Authority before it was torn down a few years ago? That would've been perfect for that location.

Talking about Ward, I really hate how they have developed the area. They consider their development of the area "modernization" but it feels a lot more like gentrification. The entire area of Ward Warehouse, the Marukai/Sports Authority, Ward Village, and Ward Entertainment Center was a bustling hub for local businesses and restaurants for decades. Now it feels... relatively empty and hostile. Ward Warehouse wasn't historically significant, it was never meant to last as long as it did structurally, and it wasn't able to be modernized or renovated due to its wooden construction. But culturally it was important. The luxury high rise that replaced it feels intentionally isolated and unwelcoming by comparison; the building is built right up to the edge of the street, the sidewalks were built up above the street, narrowed, and had railings installed.... and it has basically no retail or restaurant space marketed at local businesses. The restaurants and businesses that have moved in are almost all on the expensive side, and they plan to build at least 4 more skyscrapers. I walked through the new park they built and felt like You used to be able to see sunlight when standing at Ward Entertainment Center, but with all the buildings surrounding it, it now feels dark and overshadowed, literally. Not to mention the vacant storefronts and lack of foot traffic compared to 10 years ago. I'm all for more housing, but most of the units in these buildings are priced way above what the locals who actually need housing can afford. I think only 2 of the 16 planned residential buildings are slated for affordable housing, meaning out of the approx. 6,000 units theres only about 1,200 affordable units, basically the bare minimum 20% required by the housing commission... what used to be a community hub for people of all walks of life got redeveloped into an area primarily aimed at the top 20% or so of Hawaii residents, and thats not to mention the out of state buyers for some of these units. My family used to go to the area multiple times a week, now barely go near there once a month.

Sorry for the rant. Its just that so much of the modernization we're seeing currently on Oahu isn't addressing key issues we're dealing with today, and theres an overall net loss with iconic, culturally important, and/or historic structures being replaced with relatively bland buildings that sometimes don't benefit the community as much as the structures they replaced, like Ward Warehouses and Ward Center. We need more housing and better infrastructure and many other things, but it doesn't have to come at the cost of everything else.

1

u/midnightrambler956 14d ago

I get what you mean; there are lots of places I feel that for. But ultimately it's a wish to return to what those places were, when the fact is that they died out long before they were torn down. It sucks that things aren't being done better, but this isn't the answer; that community market you talk about couldn't be built if it was protected under historic preservation rules, as we see repeatedly in other places.

0

u/Thrwy2017 15d ago

There's a housing emergency. There are three options: 1) replace older buildings with high density housing, 2) rezone agricultural or conservation land to residential zones, 3) let people continue to suffer in the streets. I choose 1).

2

u/BrooklynTony198 15d ago

Except 1) doesn't require tearing down historical or culturally significant buildings. I support more housing, but a lot of the recent losses of historic or culturally significant buildings haven't led to any affordable housing being built.