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Say goodbye to Hawaii’s signature state Capitol, if it loses its long and graceful sightlines as they are closed by a tumble of concrete barriers and chain link fences.
COVID-19 and the rioting supporters of former President Donald Trump both are sealing off the structure and destroying its significance as an open public meeting area.
Part of the backlash to the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol is cracking down, nationwide, on state Capitol security, Hawaii included. The easiest way to secure a building is to keep the general public out.
The Honolulu Star-Advertiser said in its report on the opening of the current legislative session that the Beretania Street barriers are likely to become a permanent fixture.
“The state Capitol was designed to be open to the public,” House Speaker Scott Saiki said. “But in this day and age we have to make some adjustments to protect people’s safety.”
The paper noted that “once temporary barricades around the Capitol go down, new permanent concrete planter-type barriers could be installed around the Capitol this legislative session to deter a vehicle attack.”
Other reports said security could include metal detector screening for state Capitol visitors. The public has been unable to visit the Capitol without permission since March, when a state senator was infected with the highly infectious virus.
Opened in 1969, Hawaii’s Capitol stood out among the 50 states with its modern, open-air central atrium. The Hawaii Capitol’s design was the first in America to use modern architecture. The open-air rotunda allows the public to watch legislative democracy of the state.
Legislators’ offices ring the broad lanais on four of the floors. The top floor is reserved for Hawaii’s governor and lieutenant governor.
Hawaii’s Capitol is also the only one in the United States where the legislators have to go by the public in order to get from their offices to the meeting rooms. It was designed, according to the late Hawaii architect Frank Haines, who helped design the building, “to create a more open political system than any other state.”
All that public access now appears to be eroding.
Sandy Ma, Common Cause Hawaii executive director, worries that while security is important, it is one of several important issues to be considered.
“Given the dire economic situation that our elected officials are facing in Hawaii, erecting security at the state Capitol, where we have had peaceful, nonviolent marches, demonstrations, protests, etc. (that I can think of), must seriously be balanced with the other needs faced by Hawaii’s people,” Ma said in an interview.
Ma said that she wants all in the Capitol to be safe, “but we are concerned that people may be discouraged from participating given any potential physical barriers that may give the impression that the state Capitol, which is the People’s House, is no longer welcoming or inviting the public.”
Rarely does government loosen restrictions after they have been tightened; it is just not the nature of government to expand access and freedom.
For Hawaii’s iconic state Capitol, so much of its nature and design stem from its open style. It shows a confidence in our people, an appreciation for the real nature of living together in Hawaii. Shut off the Capitol from its people and you are saying how much you disregard Hawaii’s people.
Richard Borreca writes on politics on Sundays. Reach him at 808onpolitics@gmail.com.
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