Bill Text: HI SB176 | 2011 | Regular Session | Introduced

Hawaii Senate Bill 176 (Prior Session Legislation)

Introduced

Bill Title: Historical District Designations; West Oahu Historical District

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-01-24 - (S) Referred to EDT/WLH. [SB176 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2011-SB176-Introduced.html

THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	176
TWENTY-SIXTH LEGISLATURE, 2011
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

RELATING TO HISTORIC PRESERVATION.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that West Oahu is rich and abundant in historical sites from different periods and significant in Hawaii's culture and history.

A pre-dawn air raid on the Marine Corps Air Field in Ewa and Fort Barrette in Kapolei on the morning of December 7, 1941 was one of the very first acts that precipitated the entrance of the United States into World War II. One still-existing military bunker and its connecting roads � Guadalcanal, Roosevelt, Ranger, and Coral Sea � remain as a testament to Hawaii's strong military heritage.

The Honouliuli internment camp was situated north of the H‑1 freeway in Kunia. One of five such camps in Hawaii, its one hundred sixty acres, isolated in a deep gulch, were set up to hold up to three thousand internees. Mainland archeologist Jeff Burton, an expert on Japanese American internment, concluded that the Honouliuli internment camp may be eligible for listing on the national register of historic places.

Native Hawaiian religious and cultural specialists have long held that the Ewa plain and coastline contain burial and religious sites sacred to native Hawaiians. Remnants of old native Hawaiian activity, settlements, and living can be found throughout the region. Native Hawaiians say that the area is the resting ground of seven ali�i including the last king of Maui and Oahu before Kamehameha the Great. Part of Fort Barrette road is on an extinct dormant volcano shield known as Puu o Kapolei and is built on the ancient trail named in honor of Kualaka�i, the chief who brought ulu to the region. Kualaka�i was a leader whose many accomplishments benefitted the Hawaiian people who lived in the Ewa region.

Hawaii's grand role in the worldwide sugar industry literally has roots in Ewa's fertile farmlands. The Ewa sugar plantation, Ewa villages, and old Waipahu sugar mill are remnants of a golden age gone by. The Waipahu plantation village is a re-creation of the lifestyle and homes of the former plantation days. The colonial style plantation manager's mansion in Ewa was placed on the national register of historic places. The cultural richness and Asian-Pacific blending in our islands are the direct result of all of the laborers brought from overseas to work in the fields and live in plantation housing. The last remaining segment of the Oahu Railway and Land Company, the old train and railroad that carried people and prized agricultural products to the harbor in Honolulu, is preserved in Ewa and is now on the national register of historic places.

These and other areas from the Ewa coastline sweeping up to the Waianae range and Kunia are historical markers in Hawaii's history and should be preserved where possible. As necessary development for our growing population continues in the region, the important history of West Oahu must not be forgotten.

The purpose of this Act is to establish a historical district designation to recognize the historical and cultural significance of certain areas of the state and to establish the West Oahu historical district as one such district.

SECTION 2. Chapter 6E, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new part to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"PART . HISTORICAL DISTRICTS

§6E‑ Historical district designation. (a) The legislature may designate a contiguous geographical area in the State as a historical district. The designation shall be for honorary purposes to recognize the historical and cultural significance of that area to Hawaii.

(b) The department of land and natural resources may collaborate with interested parties to preserve historic property and other historically significant sites within a historical district and promote the historical district for educational, tourism, and economic purposes.

§6E‑ West Oahu historical district. The Ewa plain in West Oahu, generally referring to the area from Kapolei to Waipahu and including Ko Olina, Kalaeloa, and the Ewa marina, shall be designated as the West Oahu historical district."

SECTION 3. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title:

Historical District Designations; West Oahu Historical District

Description:

Establishes a historical district designation of any area of land in the State for honorary purposes to recognize the area's cultural and historical significance. Establishes the West Oahu historical district.

The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.