You’ve asked what you can do to help. What you can do to contribute to the momentum for reopening the Waikiki War Memorial Natatorium. Here’s what: Be there. Be there on Sunday, May 27, at 10 a.m. Be there for the Natatorium’s solemn 24th annual Memorial Day Observance. Be there because it’s important always to remember the sacrifices of our men and women in uniform, and never more important than over Memorial Day weekend. But be there also because it’s important to show that this Natatorium is a sacred place, the official memorial to more than 10,000 from Hawai’i who
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Archives for Uncategorized
The fight for the Natatorium: This is why
People ask us all the time why we are so passionate about bringing the Natatorium back to life. Well, they say that a picture is worth a thousand words. This is the picture. This is why: This is what we’ve been missing all these years. This is what the “lost generations” — most folks under age 50, who are too young to have experienced the magic of the Natatorium — have been missing all their lives. Just one look at this image, and you immediately understand what a re-engineered, renewed, reopened Natatorium could be for our families, for kids learning
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World War I and Wahi Pana: The Natatorium in perspective
Scottish novelist William Boyd recently published a New York Times opinion piece headlined “Why World I War Resonates.” He talks about why memories of that horror-filled war remain so vivid in our collective consciousness even now, nearly 100 years after the conflict began. Why it is lived and fought again and again in our films, in our literature, in dramas on stage, in dramas on television. Even in our poetry. “The last old soldier or sailor has died,” he writes, “and almost all of the witnesses have gone, but the war exerts a tenacious hold on the imagination. “ To
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URGENT: Support House resolution on Natatorium by 4 p.m.
We need your help today!!! Here’s what’s happening: Two state House committees will hold a joint hearing tomorrow — Friday, March 23 — on an important first step towards action on saving our Waikiki War Memorial Natatorium. The committees will consider HCR 194, a resolution asking the Department of Land and Natural Resources to convene a state task force on the Waikiki Natatorium issue. This is important! Passage of this resolution will put the House and Senate on record as saying “the restoration of the Waikiki Natatorium would benefit the state as a landmark, honor those who served and those
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Mahalo, Lin Pang, for your service to the Natatorium!
We cannot let our 25th anniversary year end without paying special tribute to a man known as the Father of the Friends of the Natatorium. Lin Pang stepped down earlier this year after 25 years as an officer and director of the Friends. He was elected vice chair at our very first meeting in August 1986. “We would never have accomplished anything if Lin was not there,” says Joanie Apo, who met Lin at that first meeting and was elected herself as the Friends’ first executive director. Joanie recalls Lin as the “peacemaker of the group,” the one who bridged
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Artist's print of Natatorium featured in exhibition
A print depicting the Waikiki War Memorial Natatorium is on exhibit now as part of a show at the South Street Gallery at Frame-Arts Hawaii. The work is by Honolulu artist Laura Smith, who is also executive director of the nonprofit group Honolulu Printmakers. The show, featuring the works of nine printmakers from Hawaii and nine from California, is called “Water’s Edge.” Smith told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that the Natatorium made the right subject for a show with that theme. “I thought ‘That’s perfect, there’s a swimming pool on the edge of the water,'” Smith said. The print is titled “Closed,”
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Images, News coverage, and Uncategorized.
"Closed", "Water's Edge", art, Honolulu Printmakers, Laura Smith, and print.
"Closed", "Water's Edge", art, Honolulu Printmakers, Laura Smith, and print.
Join veterans, young and older, for a Veterans Day observance at the Natatorium
Please join Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 8616, recent veterans from the U.S. Vets housing and work re-entry programs, the Honolulu Elks Lodge 616 and the Friends of the Natatorium for the VFW’s 15th annual Veterans Day wreath laying and commemoration. The observance will take place at the Waikiki War Memorial Natatorium this Friday, Nov. 11, at 11 a.m. That’s the famous “11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month,” the date and time that the armistice ending World War I went into effect 93 years ago. Nov. 11 has been solemnly observed in the United States ever
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Inflight magazine features Natatorium, calls Friends group "Guardians of History"
Check out this spread on the fight to preserve the Waikiki War Memorial Natatorium. It’s published in the latest issue of Innov8, the inflight magazine of go! Mokulele airlines. Open publication The story is a good summary of the decades-long battle to restore and reopen a Honolulu landmark designated, when it opened in 1927, as a perpetual living memorial to more than 10,000 from Hawai’i who served in World War I. In an important way, the photo tells the story too. Seen on this page, it’s a reminder of the Natatorium’s gorgeous design and of how beautifully the 100-meter ocean
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Great Star-Advertiser op-ed on the Natatorium! Read it and post a comment in support
A very powerful and eloquent opinion piece in Wednesday’s Honolulu Star-Advertiser, calling for action that has been delayed far too long: action to preserve and then restore the Waikiki War Memorial Natatorium. Six respected leaders joined together to issue this call. Leaders from the Hawaiian community, from the military, from the veteran community, from our water sports community, and from the professional engineering community. If you are a subscriber to the Star-Advertiser, you can read the op-ed here. Once you’ve read it, please join the lively debate in the comments. Speak your mind. Speak up for the Natatorium! If you’re
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Ironic, isn't it? The city moves to "protect public safety" at the Natatorium
The city of Honolulu is starting work on Monday to correct what it describes as “hazardous conditions” caused by cracks in the walls of the Waikiki War Memorial Natatorium. Now, of course, the Friends of the Natatorium support doing what is necessary to ensure the safety of swimmers on nearby Kaimana Beach. But isn’t it ironic? The city is acting now on an emergency basis to mitigate a safety problem it caused and could easily have prevented. The city neglected the Natatorium for decades. It allowed this historic icon and civic treasure to deteriorate. And – in 2005 – it
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