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Home My WebLink AboutCOM 0037.012 2002-2004 OLA'A KEA'AU HISTORICAL SOCIETY HCR i BOX 4067, KEn'AU, HAWAII 96743 FEBRUARY 4, 2003 Aloha Hawaii County Council, - i - I am writing to express the support of the Ola'a-Kea'au Historical`Society for the acquisition of the Sun Sun Lau property. Although this property, built in 1967, is not over 50 years old, and therefore may not qualify as an historic site candidate yet, it has cultural importance for the community of the Big Island, Hawaii. From a communication to Mayor Kim 1.5-03: "The Ola'a-Kea'au Historical Society sends our best wishes on the acquisition of the Sun Sun Lau property. We know this building is important to Hawaii residents, for there have been many important local family functions there." One of our members was able to attend the site visit, 2-3 03. It was ascertained that some people reacted adversely to the cosmetic condition of the building. This is common with neglected buildings. And yet their structural integrity may still be quite solid and repairable for far less than reconstructing a new building. According to the owner, the roof needs replacing, however the roof's structural supports are in good condition. Some asbestos is in the flooring but not in ceiling tiles. We suggest a professional assessment before a final decision is made. Concept Development has provided reasonable and realistic assessments of historic buildings in the past. If the county decides to obtain this building, we speak in support of keeping as many of the cultural aspects of the building, that reflect the basic "personality" people remember as Sun Sun Lau. The building sits in a favorable geographic location in close proximity to Civil Defense, Police Headquarters and our County of Hawai'I government center. It would be a great addition to our town to have this site cleaned up and useful. Our fire chief supports and visualizes this building as suiting the purposes of the fire department. We support renovation/restoration rather than demolition. Keeping construction materials out of our landfill is very important at this time. Please see attached paper from our member, Sandra Bonk. Avoiding these types of demolitions puts demo costs, trucking costs and landfill fees and impacts back into /J the positive repair of the structure. t We encourage you all to see the benefits of the acquisition of the Sun Sun Lau property to the County of Hawaii and to our community here on Hawaii. Mahalo nui lo~/a, q Z° ~ ` ~ f E Z A Lovey tt President Ola'a Kea'au Historical Society = 3 w ~ w OLA'A-KEA'AU HISTORICAL SOCIETY January IQ, 2003 Renovate or Restore and Keep Historic Buildings Out of Our Landfills In 1994, a group of us started the Kea'au Historical Society in an effort to encourage preservation of structwally sound, historic buildings in the Kea'au area. We believe that historic structwes are a valuable resowce and that when well maintained, are wondetful assets to the community and valuable reminders of Hawai'i's heritage. These buildings can provide a visual and historical enrichment to our communities. Photographing and salvaging from these buildings can give important information about the ways in which people lived. In light of Hawai'i's present trash problems, renovating or restoring, not razing these structwes, keeps them from adding bulk to ow landfills. A National Geographic article in the eazly 90's reports azcheologists discovering three types of materials, tops in filling ow dumps. "These aze household food, paper and CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS. Keeping these items out of our lartdfills will reduce significant amounts of occupied space. Saving ow historic buildings preserves a natwal resource and recycles, rather than discards, huge piles of lumber, roofing, fixtwes, glass and possibly, salvageable artifact materials. The renamed Ola'a-Kea'au Historical Society has enjoyed some success as a volunteer group with little experience, just dreams, hopes, desires and will. Historic buildings slated for destruction in 1994 remain in Kea'au today and historic preservation consciousness is rising in our local communities. Driving through Kea'aq you can see several historic site candidates. The Puna Hongwanji, Kea'au Community Center, Plantation Manager's House, the Doctors Mansion, old Kea'au School, Holy Rosazy Catholic Church, Kea'au Sakaguchi Store, and the East-West Clinic all continue to exist in the village and remain out of our landfills. Some are repaired; others are deteriorating. t OKHS continues to collaborate with public, government and private entities, to encourage the preservation of at-risk buildings. For regardless of some victories, many historic site candidates throughout Hawaii remain endangered and aze being squandered before proper assessments are made that could save them. They may be destroyed due to deterioration, neglect and the failure to see their value as precious resources. While public interest in historic protections and the wisdom of some local landowners is helping somewhat, many have and will be lost forever. OKHS proposes apro-active step, to develop a brochure that educates the public about assessing and rescuing their buildings. We suggest a collaboration of OKHS and certain government agencies to create a pamphlet geared to help the public make decisions about then building's fate. [t will contain information on obtaining an accurate assessment of structural integrity and approximate repair costs, discovering historical data, and possible tax breaks if registering as a historic site. Hawaii will avoid landfill impacts from demolition debris. And owners can use demolition and rebuilding costs to repair, restore or renovate. The average person may not have the skills or objectivity to see the value of their buildings. They aze often embarrassed by the look of the building, while fining to discover it's strengths. Many older constructions here, contain redwood framing soaked in salt water. Structural engineers have been surprised to find little termite damage in the framing and features of historic properties in Kea'au. Lead paint can be sealed and covered. Asbestos may be limited to a few plumbing fixtures or flooring. Evaluation of leaks is essential, since well-maintained roofs can save buildings from rot and decay. Saving an old building begins with an accurate assessment and proceeds to cleaning and basic maintenance. The brochure handout, giving owners a list of options for assessment and a checklist of problem solving techniques, would be given out with every demolitio? and/or grubbing and grading permit. 1f county government deems this idea appropriate and workable, we would volunteer our time to collaborate with the appropriate departments to prepaze and distribute this brochure. 2 For an example of this type of public information there is a brochure on Watershed Management, which encourages keeping trees for watershed protection and as buffers from ad}oining land. It would be great to see this brochure given out as well, whenever land is being developed, because it will help keep additional organic materials out of the county's waste stream. We wish our county the best success in meeting their goal of keeping volumes of material out of our landfills. Whenever we can help turn these bulk items into the resources they are and can be, we support our island's healthy environment far into the future. Thank you. , Sandra, .Bonk Member, Ola a-Kea'au Historical Society Presented to: County of Hawaii, Mayor Harry Kim Office of Environmental Management, Barbara Bell Hawaii County Council, 3