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World War II veterans and Navy brass gathered Sunday to celebrate the restoration of a weather forecasting center on Ford Island that was used as a flight control tower during the Dec. 7, 1941, attack.
At a standing-room-only ceremony, Navy officials and members of the Pacific Aviation Museum Pearl Harbor marked the completion of a $650,000 restoration of the two-story aerological tower. The dedication was part of the commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the Japanese attack.
“This is hallowed ground,” retired Adm. R.J. “Zap” Zlatoper, former commander in chief of the Pacific Fleet, said during the event inside the theater at the Pacific Aviation Museum after Sunday’s rain pushed the event indoors.
The glass-walled lookout — originally built to be a weather forecasting and wind direction center — was the eye of the storm, serving as a substitute control tower as the taller air traffic control tower was under construction the day of the attack. It was finished five months later.
The stand-in tower served as the post for the flight control center for the field at Naval Air Station Pearl Harbor when the first bombs fell.
“It provided the only true panoramic view available from the center of the battlefield,” said Rear Adm. John W. Korka, commander of the Naval
Facilities Engineering Command, Pacific. “They could see all around.”
Burl Burlingame, historian at the Pacific Aviation Museum, said the tower played a crucial role as a place to aid the wounded and arm the planes during the attack.
“They were busy trying to save aircraft and arm the airplanes that could fight back and get them off the ground,” Burlingame said. “It was chaos. Their view of the attack was spectacular. They were right in the center of everything.”
Burlingame said the airfield is the oldest in the state, as it will celebrate its centennial next year.
“It is the cradle of aviation in Hawaii,” Burlingame said. Amelia Earhart crashed on Ford Island in March 1937.
Restoration work at the historic site included refinishing or removing and replacing steel components. Some of the original materials from 1941 include steel window frames and doors, as well as the window handles and doorknobs.
Funding for the restoration was provided by a state grant and a historic-preservation grant from the Freeman Foundation in cooperation with the Historic Hawai‘i Foundation.
State Rep. Ty Cullen (D, Waipahu-Royal Kunia- Makakilo) said the preservation of historical landmarks such as the aerological tower are important to remembering the past as well as inspiring future aviators.
In addition to the dedication ceremony, the museum announced a grant from the Emil Buehler Perpetual Trust that will help the museum restore the operations building below the tower. With the grant, the museum also will be able to develop a research library and a curatorial center within the building.
Burlingame said restoring the building is important to preserving the cultural landscape of the island.
“The aerological tower restoration project we dedicate today is testament to the hard work of so many people who share the common goal of preserving historical landmarks to remind us that there is a cost for freedom and recognizing of all who have served before us,” Korka said.
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