Park Service says it failed in razing a historic Pearl Harbor home
ASSOCIATED PRESS
In this 2012 photo released by the National Park Service is a Pearl Harbor bungalow that was demolished in Honolulu.
The National Park Service said it demolished a historic home at Pearl Harbor without consulting historic preservation authorities as required.
A contractor hired by the park service tore down the home as part of a project to preserve and restore six bungalows the Navy built in the 1920s and ’30s. A building similar in style to the original now stands in its place.
Jacqueline Ashwell, superintendent of the national park that includes Pearl Harbor historic sites, said in an interview today that the park service failed to provide appropriate oversight.
She said work on the other bungalows has been put on hold while a team reviews why the demolition occurred and recommends actions so it doesn’t happen again.
“I want us to learn from this, and I want to make sure that we do the right thing for the remaining five bungalows,” Ashwell said.
The Navy built the single-story wooden homes for chief petty officers. They were used as residences until the 1990s.
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The homes are close to the shore on Ford Island, where many of the battleships bombed by Japanese planes on Dec. 7, 1941, were moored. Some of the bungalows sustained minor damage from smoke and fire during the attack.
An environmental assessment conducted for the project in 2012 called the homes unique examples of historic Navy housing in Hawaii.
The report said all six bungalows were in poor condition. It called for the work on the homes to “retain as much historic fabric through rehabilitation as possible.”
The homes are expected to be used by visitors and for office and storage space.
The building that was torn down was built in 1923.
Ashwell assumed leadership of Pearl Harbor’s historic sites in October after serving as superintendent of national parks in the Seattle area. She said she knew the renovation work was occurring but didn’t know until last month that it was done without proper consultation.
An archaeologist by training, Ashwell said she takes the Park Service’s role as stewards of historic resources seriously.
She said the agency failed to consult the State Historic Preservation Division, Advisory Council for Historic Preservation and others to the extent it was supposed to before work started.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation is another stakeholder that should have been consulted, she said.
18 responses to “Park Service says it failed in razing a historic Pearl Harbor home”
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The military marches to its own drum beat.
We don’t know what the problems were — could it have been termite damaged (common in Hawaii), filled with lead paint, and asbestos insulation and floor tiles (common during that period of construction)? Not everything from the past is “good.”
Do you have comprehension problems? It was the National Park Service who was in charge of this, not the military. However, the house was termite infested and barely standing as it was.
oops..bureaucratic bungle
Why live in a remodel when you can get brand new?
what makes it historic, just because it was old?
Agree, everything comes to an end. That’s why we have pictures.
Try reading the article.
Article stated the houses were built in 1923, were residences for chief petty officers, and close to where the battleships were bombed, with some taking minor damage from smoke and fire. That’s really going out on a very far limb, to label those insignificant houses as historic.
Looks like a one of the “portables” at the public schools.
What a fitting screw up on the 100 year anniversary of the National Park Service. The question is, who is going to pay for this? There had better be some accountability. Mere admission is insufficient. Someone was asleep at the wheel.
put a velvet rope around it let is decay naturally, then re-build. or submit it to the preservation society have them request specialty hand tools and 1923 technology then watch the building cost $3 million per bungalow, then everyone can complain about how much it costs to repair..just should have built new..
Government does nothing well, the less they do, the better.
The Hawaii Historic Preservation Office is a good example of a bad government office. They try to preserve anything that’s old without caring for how the conditions are. Instead they should focus on preserving our true treasures and more so, restore them. PH has a lot of homes that are considered historic because of their age. Lot of them are rotting away because too much work is required to restore them. The Historic Preservation Office doesn’t mind this at all.
Ok, who told on us?
Well, you can’t bring back the demolished house. Just FIRE the people responsible for not following the proper procedures and go forward. If they don’t want to fire the responsible people, then Superintendent ASHWELL’s RESIGNATION will suffice.
Ashwell first.
Pretty silly what we consider historic now. Maybe if General MacArthur lived their for awhile. But really, the home of a chief petty officer????