Tanya Harrison’s efforts finally gained purchase when the veterans got involved.

Harrison spent years researching the area that the Neal Blaisdell Center now occupies. It began as a family genealogy project, but when she came across newspaper articles from 1964 that described the newly built Blaisdell as a war memorial, she became fixated on finding out how such an important designation could have faded with time and what she could do to restore that title.

“My goal to replace the missing memorial plaque and rededicate NBC as living memorial didn’t take off until prominent veterans found this effort worthy of their time,” Harrison said.

Retired U.S. Army Col. Walter Ozawa, former director of the state Office of Veterans Services, was surprised to learn that the Blaisdell was a war memorial. “Who knew?” he said. He joined in Harrison’s efforts.

“Drusilla Tanaka, a World War II 100th Battalion veteran’s daughter who is active with the nisei vets, asked me to help, along with Gene Castagnetti and Larry Enomoto of the WWII Military Intelligence vets, ” said Ozawa. The veterans met with Mayor Kirk Caldwell and Council members Ann Kobayashi and Carol Fukunaga to figure out what could be done to re-establish the name.

“Originally we were going to fundraise and donate a new memorial plaque,” Harrison said. “Then a resolution was passed requesting three plaques, one by the entrance of each venue, to educate eventgoers that the facility is a living memorial. That changed to one plaque due to concerns over moving them if changes are made at Blaisdell in the future.”

Next month a new plaque will finally be unveiled. It will be near the concert hall on a specially selected stone with a concrete base and 24-hour lighting.

“I originally envisioned a simple plaque on a boulder by the arena — what was described in 1964. This is far more impressive,” Harrison said.

The Royal Hawaiian Band will play at the ceremony, as they did at the 1964 dedication, and Civil Air Patrol cadets from Maryknoll High School will represent the students who participated in the original ceremony. Back then there were 7,000 people in attendance.

Harrison’s interest in the Blaisdell’s history won’t wane after the plaque is in place. She has more questions. “I haven’t learned anything more about the missing plaque or found anyone that remembers the original dedication, two aspects of this history that I am still researching,” she said.

“One of the unintended consequences of my search for the Blaisdell’s missing war memorial identity is that I’ve amassed a huge amount of files on the Blaisdell in general,” Harrison said. She has thousands of newspaper clippings in boxes, which she has scanned one page at a time. “Had to get a new scanner after that,” she said.

“People have given me old concert tickets, posters and other items from events there,” she continued. “Others have suggested I write a book on the subject. I never expected to become a scholar on the Blaisdell’s history, but I’ve found that it has an amazing story that needs to be told.”

Reach Lee Cataluna at 529-4315 or lcataluna@staradvertiser.com.