Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 28, Number 11, 1 November 2011 — A matter of honor [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

A matter of honor

The Waiklkl Natatorium is hallowed ground as a war memorial, an international symbol of competitive swimming and

an important ieon in Hawaiian history. 01ympic gold medalist Duke Kahanamoku swam the inaugural lap at the Natatorium on his birthday in 1927, placing Hawai'i at the center of the sport of swimming. Through the years, many other 01ympians, celebrated swimmers and watermen followed in the Duke's wake. Generations of Hawai'i's children learned

to swim īn its waters; it was one ofWaikīkī's most beloved gathering places. Respected kupuna Nana Veary worked as a lifeguard matron and lived there for a time with her husband, three children and 21 boys who were her hānai, or adopted, sons, many of whom went on to become celebrated beach boys. Efforts exist to preserve the Natatorium, mālama Hawai'i's oeean sports and swimming legacy, and honor the commitment made to remember those who served in our nation's military during WWI. But a recent newspaper eolumn argued that demolition and change of use of that shoreline is in the public interest and less expensive than restoration. I do not agree. The City under Mayor Jeremy Harris spent $4.2 million restoring the fagade, bathrooms and volleyball court. The Honolulu City Council provided financing to finish the restoration of the bleachers and pool. But the succeeding mayoral administration under Mufi Hannemann stunned many of us by reversing the fully designed and permitted restoration, and went into high gear to demolish the entire structure. The spirit of irreverence with whieh demolition was pursued bordered on disrespecting the memory of the fallen warriors honored there. Auwē! The Natatorium serves as a sandretention revetment, whieh created

Sans Souci Beach. Demolish the Natatorium, and Sans Souci is history. Alternative uses like creating additional beach or volleyball courts are not permitted shoreline uses

and would have to survive a lengthy and daunting county-, state- and federal-permitting process, not to menhon court challenges. The Hawai'i Supreme Court in 1973 ruled against demolition for any other use of the shoreline expect for a Natatorium (defined as a swimming pool in Act 15 of the Territorial Legislature, 1921). The cost of demolition to effect the new uses proposed, even

it successtui, nvais the cost ot restoration. So mueh for the hnaneial argument that it's cheaper to demolish. Further, the structure sits in a declared marine sanctuary. How far will they get with the demolition-triggered reef damage? A new beach, according to an Army Corps of Engineers study, would require replacing the Natatorium with the equivalent of a three-wall small boat harbor replicating the same footprint of the Natatorium walls. Go figure! Proposals to "preserve" the arch by moving it is not an engineering possibility. It will have to be rebuilt as a facsimile. So mueh for preservation. Finally, hundreds of pages of scientific and expert studies including a $1.2 million environmental impact statement show the least expensive, least environmentally harmful option is full restoration. The idea of demolishing the Natatorium ranks up there with the attempts to demolish 'Iolani Palaee for a parking lot and the Royal Hawaiian Hotel for a new high-rise hotel. The Waikīkī War Memorial Natatorium is the last of the great historic treasures of the Waikīkī shoreline. How we respond to this challenge will mark the greatness or failure of who we are as a people. ■ To comment on this or any other issue of eoneem, feel free to contact me on twitter @PeterApo, Facebook/ PeterApo, or PeterAOHA @ gmail eom.

PetEr Apo Trustee, O'ahu