Monday, March 23, 2009

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park Seeks Volunteers to Build Thatch Hale

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park is offering volunteers a rare opportunity to learn from a master craftsman how to build and thatch a traditional Hawaiian hale.

Sign up as a Volunteer-in-Park (or VIP) and you can work alongside Larry Kuamoo and his helpers, Eddie Kuahiwinui and Joey Kiili, as they restore the hale next to the park's hula platform.

"The hale is an important place for dancers to gather before and after their hula, protected from the wind and rain," said Kuamoo.

First built in 1980, the hale is located at Kaauea, an inspirational site overlooking Kilauea caldera and Halemaumau crater.

Volunteers will clean and strip hala (pandanus) leaves, cut sennit (coconut cordage), and lash thatching to the wooden frame of the hale.

Volunteers are needed Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., and on weekends upon request with at least five or more volunteers prepared to work a full day.
Helpers should bring food, water, a small knife, and gloves. They should wear closed-toe shoes, sunscreen, a hat, and layers of clothing in preparation for the variable weather at the volcano's 4,000-foot elevation.

To volunteer for the hale restoration project, call Cultural Resources Manager Laura Schuster at 985-6130 or project lead Larry Kuamoo at 333-8409.

Team restoring a Hawaiian treasure | HonoluluAdvertiser.com | The Honolulu Advertiser

HonoluluAdvertiser.com

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

STATE SEEKS PUBLIC INPUT ABOUT STATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION FUND ANNUAL GRANTS

DLNR to hold public meeting on annual preservation goals
HONOLULU -- The Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) will hold a public information meeting to provide the public an opportunity to comment on the State Historic Preservation Fund annual grant program.

The meeting will take place on Thursday, March 19 from 7 to 9 p.m. at the DHHL Hale Pono‘i building, 91-5420 Kapolei Parkway, in Kapolei.
Discussion will focus on whether the State Historic Preservation Division (SHPD) should focus on developing and implementing a Statewide Historic Preservation Plan, identifying thematic resources, or providing training on how to nominate sites to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.

The State Historic Preservation Division developed a prioritized action plan for its annual Historic Preservation Fund grant application for Federal fiscal year 2009. The annual work plan identifies what the division expects to accomplish between October 1, 2008 and September 30, 2009. For FY 2009 the SHPD has identified the following priorities:

· Produce and implement a statewide Historic Preservation Plan
· Increase public education and outreach
· Nominate significant sites to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places

“We’re asking the public for their input on the annual grant program and to let us know what other issues they feel the division should focus on,” said Laura H. Thielen, DLNR Chairperson and State Historic Preservation Officer.

SHPD receives about $500,000 annually from Historic Preservation Fund Grants from the U .S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, to implement activities related to the identification, evaluation, registration, treatment, and protection of historic and archaeological resources. The State provides a 40 percent match to the Federal funds. The Division is required to have activity in each of the following program areas:
Statewide Historic Preservation Plan, Identification and Inventory of Cultural Resources, National Register Nominations, Review and Compliance of Federal and local land modification projects, Certified Local Government Preservation Program, Preservation Tax Incentives, Public Education and other activities.

The following items are not considered eligible for federal grant funding and therefore will not be discussed:
· Burial Sites Program and Island Burials Councils
· Building Permits

For more information interested persons may contact Randolph Lee at 692-8015 Written comments are due by March 31, 2009, and may be sent to:
State Historic Preservation Division
Department of Land and Natural Resources
Attention: Randolph Lee
Kakuhihewa Building
601 Kamokila Blvd., Suite 555
Kapolei, Hawai`i 96707
Fax: (808) 692-8020
Or via email to: Randolph.M.Lee@hawaii.gov

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Keeping History Alive & Standing

Hawaii Insider

Special places always inspire proprietary feelings and the Royal Hawaiian, originally opened in 1927, is no different. The pink Moorish fantasy hotel in Waikiki has legions of loyal guests, many of whom were concerned that drastic design changes were afoot when they heard it was being closed last year for remodeling.

Thursday, March 5, 2009

McMansions Repulsive? Blame Style and Size: Discovery News

Discovery News
March 5, 2009 -- When a McMansion goes up, neighbors are often unhappy, and a new study attempts to explain why.
People tend to dislike a new house when it is twice as tall as surrounding homes or out of architectural synch with the neighborhood, found Jack Nasar, an environmental psychologist and city planner at Ohio State University in Columbus.
By getting into people's heads, his study suggests ways to balance the desires of both developers and community members.
McMansions -- also called monster houses, starter castles, tract mansions, garage Mahals and worse -- are becoming increasingly common around the United States.
In earlier work, Nasar and colleagues found that houses bigger than 3,000 square feet had popped up in place of smaller, older homes in a majority of America's largest cities. Many communities have created regulations about the construction of such homes.

More..