Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 5, Number 5, 1 May 1988 — Following 50-Year Wait [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Following 50-Year Wait

Kamehameha Dedicates NewChapel, Heritage Center

After 50 years of being without a "home," Kamehameha Schools now have a spanking brand new ehapel to hold religious service. It is beautiful Bernice Pauahi Bishop Memorial Chapel and adjacent Heritage Center whieh was dedicated on the late afternoon of Easter Sunday, Apr. 3, with more than 600 school, church and community representatives invited to attend the private ceremonies on the Kapalama Heights campus. Following the blessing outside the ehapel, the crowd filled the spacious 500-seat house of worship for the nearly two-hour dedication service. It was a sort of "ehieken skin" moment, when the 14 participating ministers took their seats. All are graduates of The Kamehameha Schools. There were five from the Rev. David Kaupu's Class of 1951, including the Reverends Richard Among, Gaylord Williams, James Merseberg and William Kaina. Kaupu is the current kahu at Kamehameha. The nine other kahus participating in the service were John Kalili, 1944; Henry Boshard, 1947; Thomas Kalili, 1948; Tyrone Reinhardt, 1958; Kekapa Lee, 1964; Walter Kai and Curtis Kekuna, 1966; Dana Clevenger, 1969; and Richard Kamanu, 1975. It was a beautiful service with the congregation participating and the Centennial Choir under Dorothy Kahananui Gillett giving out with outstanding voices. The choir was accompanied by the massive 3,200-pipe organ built by J. Walker and Sons of England. The Schools have been without a ehapel since 1938 when the then Territory of Hawai'i needed the Farrington High School site where the chap>el was located to build the public school. Since then, services were held at the Kamehameha Schools' auditorium. Ground for the new ehapel was broken on Kamehameha Day, June 11, 1985, with 1970 Kamehameha graduate Dwight Pauahi Kauahikaua and Daniel Chun, Punahou graduate, as the authorized architects. A heritage center to display some of Mrs. Bishop's furnishings was also to be a part of the complex. The new complex sits on a grassy knoll just mau-

ka of the campus administration building. This location has certain characteristics of native Hawaiian religious sites. The ground slopes away, exposing an excellent view of the oeean, suggesting high aspirations. The lava rock platform supporting the ehapel is reminiscent of ancient heiau. Koa from Bishop Estate forests on the island of Hawai'i is used extensiveiy in ehapel furnishings, ceiling trim, vertical paneling and the pews whieh are set in an amphitheater or fan-like fashion giving one an unobstructive view of the services. Twenty kahili, ancient symbols of Hawaiian royalty, were especially created by master Hawaiian featherworkers in tribute to Mrs. Bishop's high status. The kahili took two years in the making by Mary Lou Kekuewa, her husband, Paul, and other volunteers. The Heritage Center was built to house furni-

ture and other personal belongings of the princess, founder of Kamehameha Schools. Its design is suggestive of Haleakala, the Bishops' home and a plaee of warmth and hospitality during most of their married life. The architecture of the center is consistent with the Hawaiian character of the ehapel with a eombination of perfect geometric forms, a square and pyramids, shapes often used when a monumental effect is desired. Interior space is flexible to aeeommodate various types of educational exhibits and to allow the area to be used in a variety of ways. The Chapel and Heritage Center today stand as another living memorial to the founder of the Schools and her husband whose portraits grace the entrance panel of the ehapel. lt is a tribute, too, to the magnificent work done by Kauahikaua and Chun.

This is part of the crowd in the new Bernice Pauahi Bishop Chapel. Note pipes of the organ and the choir loft next to it. Extra chairs were set up to accommodate the large crowd.