Archives for Friends of the Natatorium

Come Out on July 21: Public Meeting on the Natatorium!

13-Jul-14 | Comments Off on Come Out on July 21: Public Meeting on the Natatorium!

The Time has Come! We need you to stand up publicly on Monday, July 21, for repairing and reopening the Waikiki War Memorial Natatorium. An open public meeting is set for 6:30 p.m. that evening in the Kaimuki High School cafeteria at 2705 Kaimuki Ave. Please mark that date on your calendar right now! This two-hour meeting won’t determine the Natatorium’s fate, but it can get the conversation back on track. Here’s the background: Honolulu’s government wants to tear down the Natatorium. [Can you imagine? Demolish an official state war memorial?] Before it can act, the city is required by
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Categories: Elected officials, Environmental Impact Study, Events, Friends of the Natatorium, National Trust for Historic Preservation, and Uncategorized.
Tags: City and County of Honolulu, environmental impact statement, environmental impact study, Friends of the Natatorium, Historic Hawai'i Foundation, National Treasure, National Trust for Historic Preservation, Waikiki Natatorium, and WCP Inc..

Natatorium Named a "National Treasure" by National Trust

21-May-14 | 4 Comments

Big, big news! The National Trust for Historic Preservation announces today that the War Memorial Natatorium is now a National Treasure. That designation means that the National Trust is (pardon the expression) diving headfirst into the effort to preserve, revitalize and reopen our amazing, historic 100-meter ocean pool in Waikiki. They’ll provide manpower, resources, partnerships, planning, expertise. Whatever it takes. Why? The president and CEO of the National Trust, Stepanie Meeks, says the Natatorium is a “one-of-a-kind resource.” “There is no comparable structure elsewhere in the nation,” Meeks says. “This Treasure designation reflects our commitment to developing a collaborative preservation
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Categories: Friends of the Natatorium, National Trust for Historic Preservation, News coverage, and Uncategorized.
Tags: Friends of the Natatorium, National Treasure, National Trust for Historic Preservation, and Waikiki Natatorium.

Get a Great Natatorium Shirt… and Support the Friends!

18-May-14 | 2 Comments

For a limited time, these great Friends of the Natatorium “Remember. Respect. Renew.” T-shirts are available in navy blue. And even better, our friends at Ōiwi Ocean Gear are donating $10 from the sale of each $25 shirt to the Friends! That’s a big help in our efforts to preserve and renew the War Memorial Natatorium in Waikiki. 100 percent super-soft, lightweight cotton. The Friends of the Natatorium logo on the front. On the back, a graphic of swimmers doing what we’ll all be doing again in Waikiki’s beautiful, monumental ocean pool once we get it fixed and reopened. Here’s
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Categories: Friends of the Natatorium, Support, and Uncategorized.
Tags: Friends of the Natatorium, merchandise, T-shirt, and Waikiki Natatorium.

We Need your Natatorium Stories!

17-May-14 | Comments Off on We Need your Natatorium Stories!

Did you learn to swim at the Natatorium? Spend weekends there with your best buddies? Cannonball off the old high dive? Did your kupuna tell you Natatorium tales of Duke Kahanamoku, or Keo Nakama, Halo Hirose and the ditch boys? Did you grow up with sagas of Johnny Weissmuller or Esther Williams? Then come talk story with us! Natatorium Oral History Project This Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday – May 20-22 – we’re videotaping the stories of people who spent the better part of their lives swimming at the War Memorial Natatorium. People who grew up there. And people who never
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Categories: Friends of the Natatorium, History, Uncategorized, and Videos.
Tags: Friends of the Natatorium, Natatorium history, oral history, and Waikiki Natatorium.

Attend Natatorium Memorial Day May 25, 2014

08-May-14 | 1 Comment

There are many reasons to join us at 10 a.m. on Sunday, May 25, 2014 for the Memorial Day observance at the Natatorium. Of course, there are always very good reasons to observe Memorial Day. In fact, there are about 1.3 million of them. That’s an estimate of the number of American men and women who have served and died in our nation’s armed conflicts. It is their memory that brings us to the Natatorium each May on the Sunday before the Memorial Day holiday. Their memory, and the obligation that we feel – the privilege we have – to
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Categories: Elected officials, Events, Friends of the Natatorium, Memorial Day, Uncategorized, and Veterans.

Natatorium backer, Friends leader Ron Yasui has died

08-Apr-14 | 4 Comments

A memorial service will be held this Saturday, April 12, for one of the Friends of the Natatorium’s first members and most dedicated activists, Ron Yasui. Ron died March 15 at age 78. A 1953 St Louis School graduate, Ronald Hiroshi Yasui joined the Marine Corps after high school and served in combat during the Korean War. After the war, he had a long career as an air traffic controller for the Federal Aviation Administration. “Ron was a gung-ho Marine and always for the underdog,” his younger brother Byron recalls. “He was that kind of guy.” Natatorium Activist Ron channeled
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Categories: Friends of the Natatorium, Uncategorized, and Veterans.
Tags: obituary, Peter Apo, Ron Yasui, and Ronald Yasui.

The Wall Street Journal: Preservation and the Natatorium

11-Mar-14 | Comments Off on The Wall Street Journal: Preservation and the Natatorium

There was an important story in the Wall Street Journal over the weekend about a major challenge faced by historic preservationists nationwide. Among those facing that challenge are those of us working so hard to restore and reopen the Waikiki War Memorial Natatorium. And, in fact, the Natatorium gets a prominent mention in the Journal story. The focus of the piece is the recent scarcity of government financial support for historic preservation. Says the Journal: Save America’s Treasures, a federal grant program that provided more than $300 million to help preserve some 600 historic structures around the country since its
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Categories: Friends of the Natatorium, National Trust for Historic Preservation, News coverage, and Uncategorized.
Tags: historic tax credit, National Trust for Historic Preservation, Save America's Treasures, Waikiki Natatorium, and Wall Street Journal.

Veterans Day 2013 at the Natatorium: Photos and TV Coverage

12-Nov-13 | Comments Off on Veterans Day 2013 at the Natatorium: Photos and TV Coverage

Mahalo to everyone — everyone! — who took part in a wonderful 17th Veterans Day observance at the Natatorium! A standing-room-only crowd of active duty soldiers, veterans from all branches, Young Marines from Kaneohe and civilians came together just outside the War Memorial’s gates to pay tribute to all those from Hawai’i who have served. They remembered especially the 10,000 World War I soldiers and sailors to whom the Natatorium itself is dedicated. First Photos Here is a look at some pictures of the event, and links to some of the local television coverage. We hope you can see yourself
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Categories: Events, Friends of the Natatorium, Uncategorized, Veterans, and Veterans Day.
Tags: American Legion Riders, Friends of the Natatorium, Veterans Day, Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 8616, Waikiki Natatorium, and Young Marines.