Going to the birds

MIDWAY ATOLL » This lonely outpost on the tip of the Northwestern Hawaiian islands — 1,250 miles and a time zone away from Ho­no­lulu — has served America for more than a century through wars, emergencies and acts of nature.

So Lisa Brackin was heartbroken at the sad state of Midway’s historic buildings when she returned last week to the place where she was born.

Out of 105 buildings, 46 are no longer in use. And four of the five "cable buildings" that allowed President Theodore Roosevelt to send the first "around the world" cable message in 1903 are scheduled for demolition.

"The fact that these buildings are just being left to deteriorate is really horrible and really, really hard to see," said Brackin, who was born on Midway to a Navy veteran 56 years ago and later worked on Midway as the head of guest services for the Midway Phoenix Corp., which brought in thousands of tourists until 2002.

"The wildlife can reproduce," Brackin said. "Buildings cannot. History cannot. It’s just so sad and so preventable."

Emotions ran high among former Midway residents who made the long, but brief, one-day trip to Midway last week to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Midway.

But the long-term view is that Midway — as it has for generations of workers, military veterans, biologists, volunteers and even tourists — is undergoing yet another physical and demographic metamorphosis.

"The mission of Fish and Wildlife is to protect and conserve fish and wildlife," said Don Palawski, acting superintendent for the Papahanau­mokuakea Marine National Monument, which spans the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, including two main islands that make up Midway Atoll. "It’s certainly not a military mission anymore. We certainly respect and highly regard everything they did, but that mission has ended and now we’re into a different mission."

An outdated estimate once put the cost of repairing Midway’s buildings at $52.6 million, Palawski said, but "inflation and the increased cost of doing business will increase this cost. … To restore the 46 buildings no longer in use is not feasible due to the state of deterioration on those buildings."

Even for people who spent years on Midway, it’s difficult to explain to outsiders what a special place it is, said Gary Randall, 54, who was stationed here as a petty officer third class between 1977 and 1979 and has returned three times since, including last week.

"As soon as I walked off the plane, I just fell in love with it," Randall said. "The wildlife — being around animals that have no fear of humans is amazing. The scenery and the historical significance of the island — the whole package makes it a very special place to me. I asked for an extension but was forced to leave. But Midway never left me after that. It was in my blood."

At its peak during the Cold War and Vietnam War, Midway may have been home to as many as 5,000 military members and their dependents — more focused on war rather than ensuring the survival of the 21 species of birds that now call Midway home, including more than 1 million adult and juvenile Laysan albatross, or gooney birds.

Midway now houses 10 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service employees; a few more from the Federal Aviation Administration to keep the vital runway operating; and 50 to 60 contract workers — mostly from Thailand — who serve food to employees and tourists and keep the small town running with power, electricity and other key services.

A former agreement with Midway Phoenix Corp. allowed as many as 100 tourists each week, although Midway Phoenix rarely hit the maximum. Today only 18 visitors — including their tour guides — are allowed per week through one of seven tour companies.

The cost for a single person spending just one week here through Michigan-based WANT Expeditions-Wildlife and Nature Travel is $7,760.

None of the visitors’ money goes to repair or maintain Midway’s historic buildings, Palawski said.

"We want to go from an island facility that could house several thousand military to what is necessary to house in the range of 50 contract workers, 10 to 20 to 30 government employees and tourists," Palawski said. "It’s right-sizing the island to fit that projected need. Over time, there are buildings that have no use under that scenario and could be converted back to habitat for the birds."

It’s merely the latest incarnation for Midway.

In 1903, Midway provided the conduit for the first "around the world" cable message sent by President Theodore Roosevelt. In June 1942, sailors and Marines at sea and on land won the bloody Battle of Midway that turned the fortunes of World War II in the Pacific for America.

During the Cold War, Naval Air Facility Midway was part of a network of underwater Sound Surveillance System (SOSUS) stations tracking Soviet submarines.

From 1983 to 2002, Midway Phoenix brought in tourists for deep-sea fishing, scuba diving, military and nature tours, and French cuisine.

With Midway Phoenix gone, fishing and scuba diving are now banned. But more than 7,700 tourists have visited since, Palawski said.

More recently, Midway’s runway once again fulfilled its obligation as an emergency landing strip in June 2011 when a Delta Airlines 747 out of Honolulu made an unscheduled landing because of a cracked windshield.

And when the first waves from Japan’s devastating tsunami washed over Midway 15 months ago, millions of people in Hawaii, Canada and the U.S. West Coast realized that the threat of a tsunami was real, giving them hours of critical time to prepare.

The tsunami also damaged Midway’s sea wall, which "is rapidly approaching failure in many places," Palawski said.

Just replacing the portion of sea wall that protects Midway’s runway would cost $14 million, Palawski said. But an engineering report found no short-term threat to either the runway or the sea wall — and there are no plans for repairs, FAA spokesman Ian Gregor said.

Other damaged structures have been left to the elements, such as the galley that once served hundreds of thousands of meals.

Midway’s Power Plant/Command Post was hit by Japanese bombers on Dec. 7, 1941, killing 1st Lt. George H. Cannon and making him the first Marine to be awarded the Medal of Honor for World War II.

But the 25 visitors who paid $1,000 to fly from Honolulu to Midway for just one day to commemorate the Battle of Midway through Virginia-based Military Historical Tours could not enter either building for safety reasons.

"They’re usually there to see the big hangars and the memorials and the gun positions," said Bill McCulloch, Military Historical Tours’ director of sales and marketing. "They’re not that interested in the fish and wildlife and counting the birds."

But Jessica Pociask, owner of WANT Expeditions-Wildlife and Nature Travel, said her customers want government funds to be spent preserving Midway’s wildlife instead of restoring buildings.

"The reason my guests ultimately come is to see the wildlife," Pociask said. "Certainly the history of Midway and the buildings that remain are of interest, but not the primary interest. If I had my druthers, Fish and Wildlife would focus on fish and wildlife. It is a delicate balance."