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Classmates at Saint Louis School remain close all their lives after graduating. One reason for that might be that they have their own clubhouse in Moiliili.
The St. Louis Alumni Association (SLAA) may be unique in the United States. “There’s no other private high school I know of that has an off-campus place where its graduates can meet,” says Saint Louis School President Glenn Medeiros.
I was curious about its history and met with several alumni. I was surprised to learn that this organization played a major role in keeping the school from downsizing, if not outright closing, in the last 10 years.
The all-male school was founded in 1846 as Ahuimanu College, near Temple Valley. St. Damien was a student there. It moved to Beretania and Richards streets in 1881 and became Saint Louis College.
A year later it moved to the Kamakela tract at the end of Beretania Street, and Nuuanu Stream. Forty years later it relocated to Kalaepohaku, St. Louis Heights, in 1928.
A man named August Dreier had a pivotal role in creating its first clubhouse. Dreier had come to Hawaii from Germany as a blacksmith, but his business acumen led him to own Eleele Plantation (later part of McBryde Sugar) on Kauai.
He sold that, moved to Oahu and founded Hawaii’s first ice manufacturing plant — the Oahu Ice and Electric Co. — around 1900. Dreier married and had three boys who attended Saint Louis, and three girls.
The St. Louis Alumni Association was first organized in 1905 in the school’s River Street campus social hall.
In 1906 the Evening Bulletin had a contest for those who could bring in the most newspaper subscriptions. Saint Louis boys promoted the contest to all their members and took second place, a $1,000 piano.
Dreier heard of their plans and wanted to help, but in a bigger way. He knew what Charles Reed Bishop had done for Kamehameha Schools and wanted to do something substantial for the alumni of Saint Louis.
In 1907 he purchased for $4,000 from Sarah Robertson the Pacific Hotel on Union Street near Our Lady of Peace Cathedral downtown. He deeded it to the Catholic vicar, the Rev. Libert Boeynaems, and his successors for the St. Louis Alumni Association.
The actual location was where Bishop Street is today. That street extended from the harbor to Hotel Street, where it ended, 100 years ago.
With his own money, Dreier renovated the hotel and installed a social hall, gymnasium, billiard and card room, showers, and kitchen, costing an additional $3,500. Dreier also gave the St. Louis Alumni Association $650 for current expenses. That would be about $250,000 in total today.
On June 17, 1907, Dreier Hall was formally dedicated as a place for alumni to gather for social events and entertainment. Dreier died less than a year later.
In the 1930s the city decided to extend Bishop Street mauka of Hotel Street. It bought the clubhouse property, giving the alumni association about $50,000 to begin anew.
The SLAA considered 22 possible sites. It was looking for easy accessibility, good sports facilities, spacious rooms with high ceilings, room for parking, beautiful mountain views and a good breeze.
They found it on the corner of King, Isenberg and Coolidge streets in 1937. The previous owner, the Jonah Kumalae family, had moved Claus Spreckels’ home from Makiki 10 years earlier and run an ukulele factory out of it. There were few buildings in Moiliili back then.
The Spreckels’ house had 6,200 square feet with 20-foot-high ceilings. A 10-foot lanai surrounded the house. It had two lawn volleyball courts, two tennis courts and a handball court.
The land was over 71,000 square feet and cost $18,500. It had a frontage of 250 feet on King Street and 300 feet on Coolidge and Isenberg streets and was served by street cars.
The ballroom had 1,500 square feet of Philippine mahogany and could hold 400 for meetings, parties or dances. The main floor also had a ladies reception room, dining room, kitchen and bar room. It also had a clear view of the school’s campus less than a mile away. The SLAA felt it was a dream come true.
The new Dreier Manor, as it was called, was dedicated on May 7, 1938. Tickets to the event, which included food, speeches, dancing and hula, were $1.10. Bina Mossman, Hilo Hattie, E.K. Fernandez, and Al Kealoha Perry were some of the evening’s entertainers.
Honolulu Stadium had been built across the street in 1926, and the clubhouse’s second floor provided a prime viewing location.
The clubhouse burned down in a 1950 fire and was quickly rebuilt into a modern clubhouse. Over the years, the facility has been used for many purposes.
Hundreds attended the SLAA’s 100th-anniversary party in 2007. Tents covered the entire parking lot, which was lined with dozens of luau tables and hundreds of chairs. Guests parked at the Varsity Theatre, and trolleys brought them to the clubhouse.
‘NFL Draft Party’
One of the most interesting events at the clubhouse was when alumnus Marcus Mariota used it for an “NFL Draft Party.”
“The Mariota family came to us months in advance,” said P. Gregory Frey, current SLAA president. “The NFL wanted him to be in the hall in Chicago, but he said no. Family, our island state and his alumni Crusader brothers were his priority.”
The University of Oregon quarterback had won the 2014 Heisman Trophy and was expected to be selected early in the 2015 NFL Draft.
“The Mariotas wanted the entire facility. It would be the first time we had done that since our 100th-anniversary party,” said Frey. “We were glad to do it for such an ambassador of our state and school.”
It was an invitation-only event, and you couldn’t come until the time on your ticket said you could be there, Frey continues. Space was scarce. Only very close family, friends and Saint Louis connections were invited, along with Hawaii’s athletic elite.
Tables covered the inside of the clubhouse as well as half of the parking lot, where his entire 2011 Saint Louis graduating class was personally invited to sit with him. Many flew in because they wanted to be part of Mariota’s big day.
They needed the other half of the parking lot for the national and local TV trucks. Giant TVs were everywhere.
The boardroom was converted into a media room for reporters. Inside were 10 or more jerseys and matching hats, for every team that conceivably might draft Mariota. That’s how many teams hoped to get him.
In the end Mariota was selected second in the draft by the Tennessee Titans. “To see him hug his mom and other family members was very touching and special,” Frey recalls.
Mariota paid for the whole event with the first check he had ever written in his life, his mother said.
“Who knows?” says Frey. “Maybe SLAA will do this all over again with Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and his supportive ohana in a few years.”
Alumni to the rescue
In the past several years, Saint Louis School’s enrollment and revenue dropped. The financially strong alumni association was asked to come to the rescue.
“Our alma mater needed ‘big money’ now to address a myriad of financial challenges,” says Gregory Frey (class of 1979). “So, the SLAA ohana came together as a family at a special meeting to discuss the needs of our school.
“We argued. We fought. We listened. We learned. In the end we voted and decided. Overwhelmingly, our SLAA family approved a bank loan, as guarantor, for over $7 million. Saint Louis has repaid, on schedule, $5 million so far.
“The SLAA rallied to help the school when it needed it the most,” Frey says.
“Thanks to the alumni association, Saint Louis School got the money to make substantial improvements, to include the creation of a lower school all the way down to kindergarten (a first in our rich academic history). Saint Louis got better. Saint Louis is better.”
Since then enrollment has jumped to over 870 from a low of 520. The changes have made a difference. And Mariota has had a positive impact on enrollment, too.
However, none of it may have been possible without the substantial gift from Dreier 111 years ago in 1907 of a separate clubhouse for school alumni. .com.
Bob Sigall is the author of the five “Companies We Keep” books with stories of Hawaii people, places and organizations. Email him at Sigall@yahoo.com
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