The redevelopment of the Mauka Area is guided by development policies found in Chapter 206E, HRS. The Legislature has declared that sites of historical or cultural significance within the Mauka Area shall be preserved. Therefore, the preservation of such resources shall be an integral part of this plan.

Most of what we know today as Hawaii's urban form dates from the Post World War II era when Hawaii's rate of growth and development rapidly increased. For this reason man-made resources which predate this period are reminders of Hawaii's past.

Hawaii is unique in that the historical entry point of its various cultures is fairly well-defined. One can trace the establishment, then flourishing of the cultures through their diverse art forms and architecture. The end product of this evolutionary process is an integrated culture founded upon the blending and merging of its diverse backgrounds. The preservation of significant historic and cultural sites will provide us with concrete evidence of our cultural past and an appreciation of the origin of the cultures that have contributed to the development and uniqueness of Hawaii today.

The Mauka Area is one of the early urbanized areas in Honolulu and, fortunately, still retains many sites of significance (Figure 27). These sites should be preserved to provide present and future generations with an understanding of Hawaii's history and uniqueness.

The preservation, restoration and use of historic sites are very important from an economic standpoint. The retention of historic and cultural sites promotes the uniqueness of Hawaii's history. Such sites are important visitor attractions and, thus, an asset to the community. Historic and unique buildings in the Mauka Area which are renovated and made economically productive can contribute to the continuing distinctiveness and uniqueness of the Mauka Area, and serve as attractions to residents and visitors in Honolulu.

The process of identifying sites recommended for preservation, protection, restoration, rehabilitation, and/or reconstruction involved the following steps.

An inventory of the Mauka Area's historic sites and buildings as well as culturally significant facilities, settings and locations was performed. In evaluating sites and selecting those meriting protection, criteria used by the Hawaii Historic Places Review Board were considered. The Mauka Area's historic and cultural resources were then reviewed as to their relationship and significance to the Mauka Area's past. In addition to the Hawaii Historic Places Review Board's criteria, these factors were deemed important:

1. Placement within the State or National Historic Register does not assure preservation of a particular site or structure.
2. Buying sites solely for preservation is prohibitively expensive.
3. The Community's interest is best served by protecting sites and buildings of historic and Cultural significance that can be placed in productive use.

The following definitions will facilitate understanding of the actions recommended in this plan.

PRESERVATION -- keeping a particular property in its present condition. Such property may already be in a restored or rehabilitated condition.

PROTECTION -- undertaking actions or applying measures which will prevent the property from deterioration or loss or which will keep it from being destroyed or abused.

RECONSTRUCTION -- reproducing by new construction of a building, structure, object or parts thereof as it originally appeared.

REHABILITATION -- returning a property to a useful state, thus allowing it to be used while preserving those portions or features considered historically, architecturally, and/or culturally significant.

RESTORATION -- recovering accurately the authentic form and details of a property or a structure and its setting, usually by renovating a later work, or replacing missing earlier work.

The following are sites selected for protection and the action recommended for each site:

The Neal Blaisdell Center Complex and grounds (including the Victoria Ward Coconut Grove) should be protected due to its cultural and aesthetic values. Kewalo Basin harbor, which is located in the Makai Area, influenced the Mauka Area's early development due to the fishing and related activities that existed and continue there. A compatible and mutually supportive relationship between contemporary water-related activities at the harbor and developments within adjacent areas shall be promoted and pursued.

Valuable cultural resources such as the Kamaka Ukulele Factory should remain in the Mauka Area. Such culture-enhancing facilities are valuable. If their displacement is unavoidable, they should be relocated in the Mauka Area to areas that are community focal points. Maximum exposure of such resources to residents and visitors benefits the public and the "resource" as well.

Other resources within the area considered to be of cultural and historic value may not be on the plan's preservation list. In evaluating sites, major emphasis was placed on a site's ability to be economically self sustaining and thus contribute to the renewed community. The Honolulu Brewing and Malting Company property is an example. Although the building is on the State and National Register, it is structurally unsound. To give the building economical and social [utilitization] utilization would require it to be torn down and reassembled, a prohibitively expensive venture. Therefore, this property is not included in the aforementioned historic sites list. If at a later date a viable alternative for its reuse is offered, the Authority would reconsider the site for inclusion under the plan.

With respect to the historic and cultural sites and buildings on the Authority's list which are privately owned, additional assistance to the owners shall be considered. The Authority shall review and consider the possibility of providing property tax relief or other tax incentives, governmental grants-in-aid, and other financial and technical assistance to such owners. The Authority may propose amendments to existing laws and rules to implement these concerns.

Rules shall be adopted to establish procedure by which other sites of historical and cultural significance within the Mauka Area may be identified and added to the Authority's preservation list.