From the op-ed page of today’s International New York Times comes this important meditation on “Why Our Monuments Matter.” We love the eloquent conclusion: “The great dislocation of our time indicates just how frail our monuments, our books, our thoughts and principles can be. Still, they exist — and they are our guide and our shield. But if our symbols are lost, we will be no better than ignorant armies riding pickup trucks through the endless dust, where canals, dried and gone, once made the desert bloom.” Have you submitted a comment yet on Honolulu’s plan to demolish the wonderful,
Read More
Archives for Friends of the Natatorium
The Natatorium Needs You. Submit an Official EIS Comment.
The clock is ticking! If we’re going to save the Waikiki War Memorial Natatorium, we need your help shape the draft of the environmental impact statement. Make sure your voice is heard before the Aug. 22 deadline for public comment. The Background Here’s the situation: Two days after the open public meeting on the Natatorium last week, the City and County of Honolulu published what’s called an “environmental impact statement preparation notice.” [Note: It’s a 141-page PDF.] Now, after a 30-day public comment period, the city’s planners will write a draft environmental impact statement. Another public comment period will follow,
Read More
Mahalo! Super Turnout for Natatorium Public Meeting
Many thanks to the many, many advocates for our War Memorial Natatorium who came out for last night’s public meeting! As you can see from the photo (and only about a half of our overwhelming turnout made it into the picture), the pro-Natatorium crowd made an impressive showing in our bright yellow “Remember-Respect-Renew” T-shirts. (The back of the shirts reads, “Save ‘em!” Note the logo of the National Trust for Historic Preservation on the left sleeves.) Among those who came out were veterans, including high-ranking leaders of the VFW and American Legion. There were surfers. Historic preservationists. Swimmers and water
Read More
City and County of Honolulu, environmental impact study, Friends of the Natatorium, Historic Hawai'i Foundation, National Trust for Historic Preservation, Waikiki Natatorium, and WCP Inc..
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
Read More
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..
Friends of the Natatorium EIS Scope Submission
WAIKIKI WAR MEMORIAL COMPLEX PROJECT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT Stakeholder’s questions and issues for consideration
Read More
Bullet Points for Natatorium Open Meeting
Bullet Points For Statements at the Open Meeting on the War Memorial Natatorium Hosted by WCP Inc. Monday, July 21, 6:30 p.m-8:30 p.m. Kaimuki High School cafeteria at 2705 Kaimuki Ave.
Read More
Natatorium Named a "National Treasure" by National Trust
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
Read More
Get a Great Natatorium Shirt… and Support the Friends!
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
Read More
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
Read More
Attend Natatorium Memorial Day May 25, 2014
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
Read More