Hawai’i Public Radio’s Adrienne LaFrance was on hand for Sunday’s 22nd annual Memorial Day ceremony at the Natatorium and filed a report that aired Monday and Tuesday.

The story does a fine job of both capturing the spirit of the event and updating listeners on the natatorium issue.

One excerpt from the story seems particularly worth thinking about. It quotes our keynote speaker at Sunday’s ceremony, Lieutenant General Benjamin Mixon, commanding general of the U.S. Army, Pacific.

LaFrance observes that “veterans from World War I, the soldiers the memorial was built to honor, are no longer alive to see it.” But, she continues, General Mixon “says the very purpose of war memorials is to outlive those who lived through the periods they commemorate.”

“In a time when many of our young people are not focused on that history,” the general told LaFrance, it is “easy … for the young people to go to [a] memorial, look at the names that are on the wall of remembrance and they will understand enough about the history of this great country and the sacrifices of all its service members.”

If you missed the HPR story, you can listen to it here.

Lieutenant General Benjamin R. Mixon speaking to a youngster after his keynote address at the 22nd annual Memorial Day ceremony at the Waikiki Natatorium War Memorial.

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Honolulu Weekly is out with an update on the Natatorium fight.

The bottom line: As we head into Memorial Day weekend, the city is inching ahead with efforts to (unbelievably) demolish Hawai’i's official memorial to World War I soldiers and sailors. Veterans, preservationists, environmentalists and — importantly — the law and regulations stand in the way of those efforts.

As you’ll read in the Weekly’s story, the Friends of the Natatorium are still fighting. We’re confident of victory, but the fight may be a long and hard one.

What can you do? You can contribute to the cause. You can follow us on Facebook and Twitter. And there’s lots more you can do.

Join us in our efforts to respect the memory of the fallen and to renew the wonderful monument that was created in their honor. Mahalo.

Related posts:

1. Hawaii Public Radio’s Coverage of Memorial Day at the Natatorium
2. The fight for the Natatorium: On to the next round

Hundreds gathered at the Waikiki War Memorial Natatorium Sunday to remember an icon: waterman, lifeguard and surfer Clifford Ah Mow.

Ah Mow was one of the 17 original crewmen of the canoe Hokule’a; in 1976, they piloted the double-hulled craft from Hawai’I to Tahiti without modern instruments to demonstrate that Polynesians could indeed have navigated far and wide across the open Pacific long before the arrival of Europeans.

It was a feat intended not only to support an important historical theory about the origins of the Polynesian people, but also to focus pride and revitalize Hawaiian culture.

After remembrances at an onshore ceremony outside the Natatorium Sunday, family members and others accompanied Ah Mow’s ashes out onto the ocean, where his son scattered them about a mile offshore. Star-Bulletin coverage of the memorial can be found here. A photo gallery is here. An obituary published after the 67-year-old Ah Mow’s death on Feb. 22 is here.

The Friends of the Natatorium join Clifford Ah Mow’s many friends and admirers in remembering a legendary son of Hawai’i and in offering consolation and sympathy to his family.

A Star-Bulletin photo of Clifford Ah Mow Jr. carrying his father's ashes to the canoe Hokule'a, which carried them into the ocean for scattering offshore.

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The Honolulu Weekly has posted a gallery of photos of the Natatorium at dawn, taken by photographer Laura Chartier.

She writes of another early morning visitor to the site who saw her shooting her images, approached and began telling her about his memories of “the days of Duke and when his family used to visit.”

“I could tell,” Laura writes, “the Natatorium was a special place for him, as it was for so many people.”

And as it could — and should, and can — be again.

The Natatorium at dawn, photo by Laura Chartier, copyright 2009 Honolulu Weekly

Related posts:

1. Honolulu Weekly breaks in-depth story on the Waikiki War Memorial Natatorium

A hugely respected national voice — Richard Moe, president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation — has added that voice to the debate over our Waikiki War Memorial Natatorium. His terrific op-ed in today’s Honolulu Advertiser sums it up this way: “Demolishing this historic treasure would be both morally unconscionable and fiscally irresponsible. … While there are plenty of other beaches, there is only one natatorium. The mayor should invest in Hawai’i's heritage instead of flattening it.” Thank you, Dick Moe!

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The last surviving U.S. veteran of World War I, now 108, appeared before a congressional committee this week calling for a memorial on the National Mall to veterans of the Great War. Find news coverage of Frank Buckles’ Capitol Hill appearance here, here and here. Well done, soldier!

(VA photo by Robert Turtil)

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Hawai’i Magazine’s reporter seems to believe that demolition of the Waikiki War Memorial Natatorium is a done deal, reporting yesterday that the battle has “seemingly reached an end.”

As we reported to you over the weekend, nothing could be further from the truth. The fight has simply shifted to other arenas, arenas the city does not control.

For more on that, see the letter to the editor from Peter Apo, president of the Friends of the Natatorium, in today’s Honolulu Star-Bulletin. It’s the third letter down here. As Peter points out, a legal expert from the National Trust for Historic Preservation has analyzed the situation and concluded that at least five federal environmental, commercial and historic preservation laws may protect the Natatorium. The NTHP said those statutes constitute “very significant legal constraints on any proposal for the city to demolish the Natatorium.”

If you agree with Peter, you might want to let Hawai’i Magazine know it’s not over by leaving a message in the comments at the bottom of this page.

Let’s all look forward to the day when the Natatorium will once again be a place for scenes like this:

Related posts:

1. The fight for the Natatorium: On to the next round
2. The fight goes on!
3. TV coverage: Friends of the Natatorium say fight isn’t over

Mayor Hannemann has now endorsed his own task force’s recommendation that the Waikiki War Memorial Natatorium be razed.

This is hardly news. It was no surprise in September that an advisory panel appointed by the mayor would provide the advice he wanted to hear. It is no surprise now that he has adopted a recommendation that tracked so closely with his own often-expressed preference.

Hannemann’s so-called “partial preservation” plan would destroy the entire War Memorial — pool, bathrooms, bleachers, volleyball courts and parking lot — thereby wasting more than $4 million in completed, much-used improvements and restorative work. Hannemann’s plan for a facsimile of the arched doorway to be rebuilt inland is not preservation in any sense of the word.

Here are some things to remember:

• The pool itself is the memorial tribute to the fallen of World War I. The arches are merely a decorative doorway to the War Memorial Natatorium. Rebuilding the door elsewhere is NOT preserving the memorial.

• The fight to preserve the War Memorial is not over. The mayor won this round, in an arena of his own choosing. Preservationists, environmentalists and members of the Native Hawaiian, veteran, and ocean sport and safety communities will have a better shot at victory when the fight moves to venues that he does not control.

• Those venues include administrative hearings and perhaps, eventually, the courts. The National Trust for Historic Preservation has pointed out that there are at least five federal environmental, commercial and historic preservation laws in the path of the mayor’s demolition plan. Together, the NTHP says, those statutes constitute “very significant legal constraints on any proposal to for the city to demolish the Natatorium.”

• There is plenty that you can do to help save the Natatorium. You can write to the mayor and members of the City Council. You can write letters to the editors of the Advertiser and Star-Bulletin; tell them that you favor stabilizing the Natatorium and preserving it for eventual full restoration. You can contribute to the Friends of the Natatorium. And you can stay informed, by subscribing to this blog [see right-hand column on this page] or following us on Facebook or Twitter.

More details on why stabilization and preservation are the better alternative are available here. Thank you for your support.

Related posts:

1. The fight goes on!
2. Don’t let them tell you the Natatorium fight is over
3. Task force dissenting opinion: Read it and act

The latest Honolulu Weekly looks at local news media’s less-than-aggressive coverage of the Natatorium issue… and what happened when the Weekly’s managing editor, Adrienne LaFrance, tried to ask the tough questions. Read her story here and then tell us in the comments what you think. Have Honolulu’s reporters covered the Natatorium story adequately? Should the mayor be more responsive to questions about his position?

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