The War Memorial Natatorium is seen in Waikiki. The city is proposing to demolish some of the less visible submerged structures at the Natatorium, including the pool’s makai and Ewa sea walls. The pool deck would also be reconstructed on support piles. JAMM AQUINO / 2017
People come to our beaches from all over the world to, among other things: body surf, surf board, boogie board, paddle board, wind board, kite surf, jet ski, canoe paddle, water ski, snorkel and scuba.
They do not come to swim in a POOL. The push to restore the Waikiki Natatorium is so over, despite the machinations of various preservation groups. Read the polls. The people don’t want it.
Mr. Mayor, tear down that Natatorium!
Margaret B. Murchison
Nuuanu
Honolulu Star-Advertiser
People walk past the Waikiki War Memorial Natatorium that is in a state of disrepair and ruin. DENNIS ODA / NOV. 8
I’m writing in reference to Rick Bernstein’s commentary, “Bring back beach at Natatorium site” (Star-Advertiser, Dec. 9).
I remember as a kid growing up in Kaimuki before World War II, spending many happy days at the Natatorium, jumping off the diving tower with a hibiscus leaf in my mouth so water would not go up my nose. But times have changed.
I firmly believe that with all of the predictions of future climate change and rising tides, any construction done to replace the current pool and bleachers will in years to come to be an eyesore like we are facing today.
Therefore, let’s go for the beach plan and forego the cost of construction and future maintenance on new replacement bleachers and pool complex. Just have a memorial for our veterans along with a restored beach area.
Chuck Schrader
Kaneohe
The Waikiki Natatorium is in a state of disrepair and ruin as a result of age and neglect. DENNIS ODA / NOV. 8
As an 8-year-old, I attended a swim meet at the Waikiki Natatorium while visiting Honolulu from my home on Molokai. It was 1946. I was amazed and impressed that they could create a swimming pool from a beach like the San Souci swimming beach we had enjoyed earlier that day.
After living in Honolulu since 1951, I’m disheartened by the loss of Hawaii’s natural beauty to man-made structures such as sky rises, a rail system, and plans to restore the now dilapidated Natatorium with a perimeter deck plan, instead of going with the memorial beach plan.
At 80 years of age, I’ve lost confidence in our elected officials to make decisions that recognize the long-term effects of what they support. What do we truly want to leave our mo‘opuna? Not everyone can fly home to Molokai, as I do, when in need of a spiritual boost from an environment that still reflects old Hawaii.
Maile Goo
Niu Valley
Honolulu Star-Advertiser
The city should not spend a dime to restore or rebuild the Waikiki Natatorium. We should continue to let it go to ruin for several reasons.
First, I think it is an ugly building and not worthy of preservation.
Second, it is folly to build anything on a shoreline when the sea level is rising. Third, there is no money, and until the rail is completed, there is not likely to be any money.
Preservationists should put their money where their mouths are. If they want to preserve it, let them collect the $20 million to $30 million to do the job. The city needs to spend its money on rail, roads and sewers for as far into the future as the eye can see.
Richard Manetta
Wilhelmina Rise
Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Recently you published an article about the Natatorium by Robert Fox and David Cheever (“Volleyball venue at Natatorium fits memorial’s original intent,” Star-Advertiser, Nov. 4).
I think the public should be informed that admission to events such as beach volleyball, music and hula programs will cost money.
Keeping Hawaii Hawaii is what we should do. Adaptive reuse of the Natatorium, as Fox and Cheever propose, is another instance of private interests usurping the public’s benefit. They neglected to mention that the public would have to pay admission to watch events such as beach volleyball, music and hula shows.
We need a free public beach for all of the people.
Jim Bickerton hits it on the head when he states that the public is increasingly being hemmed in by private interests who control most of the shoreline from the west side of Waikiki to Diamond Head. (“Natatorium planning kept under wraps,” Star-Advertiser, Sept. 23).
Public access to beaches and shorelines is paramount in Hawaii. For too long private money has dictated who controls the state’s shorelines that are rightfully the public’s domain.
Commercial beach operations have greatly diminished the public’s ability to enjoy whatour tax dollars have paid for, and the Natatorium should not be appropriated by any single-use group that will serve mainly commercial interests. The so-called repurposing proposal for sand volleyball courts and concert venues, ostensibly for the public’s good, is pure shibai.
Preserve the arches and restore the beach. Continue to honor the memory of our World War I veterans and return this valuable resource to the people.
Historically and culturally, the Waikiki shoreline from Diamond Head to the present Moana Hotel predates the War Memorial Natatorium and is about Hawaiian settlement. It is also the area where Kahekili and his warriors landed to conquer Oahu, and later where Kamehameha and his warriors landed to take control of the island.
The Waikiki Natatorium Commission met for several months to resolve the fate of the natatorium. Much time and effort resulted in a decision to demolish the pool and bleachers, retain the arches and return the beachfront to a public-access beach.
Fiscally this makes sense. Millions of dollars would be needed to rebuild. Maintenance would be expensive. Our priority should be schools and parks, which suffer from a lack of maintenance funds.
Historically and culturally, a sandy beachfront for public access to the ocean would be best.
In its Dec. 5 editorial, the Star-Bulletin asserted that if the Waikiki War Memorial Natatorium is not brought back to its original condition, the memory of our World War I veterans would be disrespected. Nothing could be further from the truth.
The Kaimana Beach Coalition supports a plan to redesign a nonfunctional swimming pool and decrepit bleachers into a functional, two-acre memorial beach with a spectacular near-shore swimming channel running from Kaimana Beach through the demolished natatorium pool and up to the Queen’s Surf groin. This oceanfront area, dredged 75 years ago to create the natatorium pool, promises to become Hawaii’s premier near-shore swimming course.
A restored memorial arch framing the new beach, new bathroom facilities, carefully constructed groins to protect sand from erosion and a beach volleyball court would make this addition to Kaimana Beach a welcome improvement to our precious Waikiki shoreline.
The memorial beach would become a valuable resource reflecting our community’s respect for veterans. It also would provide new recreational opportunities and a healthy, child-friendly environment while saving millions of dollars in maintenance costs.
We must take a deep breath and join Mayor-elect Mufi Hannemann in moving into the future by recreating a war memorial beach that will stand the test of time, and show proper respect for our honored veterans and, just as importantly, for our community.
We have a new mayor and a new plan. It’s time for Mayor Harris to let go of his failed dream and not waste any more taxpayer money.
More information on the natatorium and an artist’s rendition of its future state can be seen at www.savekaimanabeach.org
I have a suggestion regarding the natatorium. The building is old and probably rotten through and through and is really not worth repairing. As far as I know, it has not been used by the public for many years — it just sits there, gradually rotting away.
Why not raze the structure, clean up the site to park-like standards and erect a very nice monument — a memorial to the World War I veterans to whom the natatorium is dedicated. It could be a user-friendly fountain with a wading pool or some other thing which would be attractive to visitors to the park, something that the public could use and which would make them happy that it is there.
After seeing the city pour money and time into the Waikiki War Memorial Natatorium, and seeing little result, I have lost any hope that the city can deal with the situation. Is the city so overwhelmed with money that it must throw money into this bottomless pit? Is the taxpayer so eager to be taxed that we must tax for the natatorium again and again? The time has come to go in another direction, and ask what we now want.
What I usually hear is that we should preserve the arch. If not, another memorial for the World War I veterans should be created at the site. But in the main, the area should be cleared as much as possible to create a beach. A beach is what we want there. We do not need a constant stream of construction projects there — hailed with great fanfare by politicians — only to fall into disrepair, a sort of monstrosity by the sea. The budget is tight, and some taxpayers could use tax relief, so let’s do a minimal amount at the natatorium, such as preserving the arch. And restoring the beach there would be very nice.