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
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Monthly Archives November 2009
A Veterans Day tribute
The Friends of the Natatorium join today with our fellow citizens — in Hawai’i and across the country — in honoring and expressing everlasting gratitude to all who have served in the United States Armed Forces. Recalling the words of the famous World War I poem “In Flanders Fields,” we shall not — ever — break faith with our veterans.
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Honor them in words and in deeds
Tomorrow, Wednesday, Nov. 11, is Veterans Day. It is a day to honor all those who have worn the uniform of our country. It is a day to thank them. But it is more than that: Tomorrow is also a time to recommit ourselves as a nation to what the president, in his Veterans Day proclamation, called our “obligation to … fellow citizens who have risked their lives to defend our freedom.” So on Wednesday, the Friends of the Natatorium urge you to honor our veterans. We urge you to thank them for their service. We also urge you to
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