A motto of the real estate industry — "location matters" — is a maxim that ought to guide the discussion that began this week in City Council chambers about Honolulu Hale.
That’s the kamaaina term for City Hall, built in 1928 and an exceptionally lovely example of the Spanish-style architecture that was popular in Hawaii in that period. It stands near iconic historic sites such as Kawaiahao Church and Iolani Palace and a stone’s throw from the state Capitol. The building was placed on the Hawaii Register of Historic Places in 1975 and the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.
Its location seems perfect, which makes the current proposal to explore a possible move to Kapolei, the "Second City" on the Ewa Plain, puzzling. Shouldn’t the seat of municipal government for Oahu be in the First City?
The relocation idea took shape in a measure, Resolution 14-107, introduced by Council Chairman Ernie Martin, apparently prompted by the need for office space. The resolution that advanced from the Budget Committee Wednesday, on a unanimous vote, proposes that a feasibility study be done by the end of the year.
As written, this measure should be shelved for good. If there is a space shortage, this is the wrong way to solve it, and no taxpayer funds should be spent exploring that notion.
The Council recently removed asbestos and renovated its third-floor offices, and Martin said this exercise demonstrated how little potential for expansion the old building offers.
What Martin suggested is using some of the land the city owns next to Kapolei Hale, the municipal Second City annex, to build a new, spacious facility that would become the seat of county government.
He got some support from Council Budget Chairwoman Ann Kobayashi, who said Council staff support is now scattered throughout Honolulu Hale because there is insufficient space that’s contiguous with Council members’ offices. Further, Martin said that if the Council vacated, there would be room at City Hall to give the Royal Hawaiian Band a fitting home.
If those are the goals, they can be achieved by using some of that land in Kapolei to build additional office space. There the city could create a new home for some of the agencies now occupying part of Honolulu Hale and the Frank F. Fasi Municipal Building a few yards away, freeing up Downtown space for the band, Council staff or any other use that’s appropriate.
That’s a reorganization that would require planning, but a feasibility study doesn’t seem necessary.
The lone testimony this week came from resident Richard Eistner, who praised the beautiful City Hall "right in the middle of downtown Honolulu, where everything is." The truth couldn’t be plainer.
The resolution proposes that moving City Hall could "demonstrate leadership and spur job growth in Ewa by relocating more city services to Ewa," where there’s been substantial population growth.
But this isn’t about city services; it’s shifting the entire seat of government for the island away from Honolulu, which is undergoing its own redevelopment and population boom. The City and County of Honolulu needs its home in Honolulu.
