Question: The clocks in the clock tower at Aliiolani Hale haven’t shown the correct time in years. The time has been stuck at 4:40. Interestingly, the clock facing Ewa shows a different time, 7:55. Is it a matter of funding, or are the clocks irreparable due to their age?
Answer: A fix is in sight although not imminent.
The clock in Aliiolani Hale — the state Judiciary building behind the Kamehameha statue on King Street — has not kept time since 2003.
Over the years, we’ve been told a big problem was finding someone qualified to repair the clock under required historic guidelines (is.gd/LnBNkj).
However, “To clarify, the undertaking of the project has been not as much hampered by the historic building requirements as it has by the absence of funding up until this year’s legislative session, when funds were finally appropriated,” said Judiciary spokeswoman Marsha Kitagawa.
The Legislature appropriated just over $3 million for work on Aliiolani Hale’s exterior and clock tower.
Kitagawa says it’s been more than 30 years since any significant amount of work has been done on Aliiolani Hale, which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.
We previously were told the clock was built by E. Howard Clock Co. in 1859, years before Aliiolani Hale was built. The Boston-based company stopped producing that type of clock in 1903.
Asked about the discrepancy in dates, Kitagawa said, “The only fact I am able to confirm is that the clock was installed on April 25, 1874 — the year the building was completed.”
According to “Hawaiian Time,” by Robert C. Schmitt and Doak C. Cox and published in the Hawaiian Journal of History in 1992, Aliiolani Hale was the first public building in the islands with a tower clock. The clock cost $400.
Architects have estimated it will cost $25,000 to replace the clock’s hands and refurbish the clock faces and mechanism. That work must be done first before actual repairs can begin and if the clock is to run for any length of time, Kitagawa said.
“We certainly wouldn’t be able to install a digital mechanism for our historic clock tower,” she said when asked about restrictions. “But as for what materials can or cannot be used to replace the clock hands, the architectural consultant determined that a wood species suitable to weathering, a composite material such as fiberglass, or a light rigid metal would be appropriate for both operational and historic purposes.”
When money becomes available, the project will be put out to bid.
Aliiolani Hale was designed to house the Hawaiian monarchy, but instead was home to the Legislature until Iolani Palace opened, as well as the Judiciary. Today, it houses the Supreme Court, court admininstration offices, a law library and the Judicial History Center. For more on its history, see http://jhchawaii.net/about-us/aliiolani-hale.
STREAM SIPHONING: RESEARCH
After reading Tuesday’s “Kokua Line” about someone seen siphoning water from Manoa Stream, University of Hawaii professor Chittaranjan Ray, interim director of the Water Resources Research Center, contacted us to say it was probably a graduate student using the water for research.
However, the student uses a pickup truck belonging to UH, not a flatbed truck as described, Ray said.
The student was told not to take any more water while Ray’s office worked with the state Department of Land and Natural Resources about what permits would be required to take more water, if needed.
The center will apply for an “after-the-fact stream diversion works permit and instream flow standard amendment,” according to DLNR’s Stream Protection and Management Branch.
This process, which includes other agency reviews, can take up to 90 days. “At this point we do not know whether there will be any penalty,” a DLNR spokeswoman said.
MAHALO
To the very kind angel who removed the keys left in my car truck and turned them in to the Windward City Longs. Many blessings of health, happiness and aloha to you and your family. — J.M., Kaneohe
Correction: Aliiolani Hale was home to the Legislature as well as the Judiciary and Hawaii Supreme Court. An earlier version of this story and the story on page B2 of today’s print edition said it was only home to the Supreme Court.
