Question: Is the Bishop Museum ever going to reopen the Maritime Center at Pier 7 at Honolulu Harbor? Is it contingent upon something with the Falls of Clyde ship? It was such a wonderful place to visit and take visitors to learn about our seafaring culture.
Answer: No, because Bishop Museum is no longer involved with this property. It closed the Hawaii Maritime Center in May 2009 and gave up the Pier 7 lease in December 2017. Some items from the center, which had chronicled Hawaii’s maritime history, including Native Hawaiian voyaging traditions, were relocated to Bishop Museum. The old maritime center building is termite-ridden and might not be salvageable, according to past news reports.
However, the state’s redevelopment plans for Pier 7 do include a new museum of some type, according to a notice for the public auction of a long-term lease that was held via sealed bids over the summer, 808ne.ws/4bPDvHp. “The Lease premises shall be used for a museum and related facilities, with a harbor and wharfage operation component,” the notice says.
The state Department of Transportation opened the bids Aug. 9 “and is currently working with the successful bidder to negotiate the 65-year lease,” DOT spokesperson Shelly Kunishige said Tuesday in an email. “We will announce the bidder upon completion of the lease negotiations.”
As for the Falls of Clyde, the decaying ship moored near the vacant maritime center has been delisted from both the Hawaii Register of Historic Places and the National Register of Historic Places, Kunishige said. The DOT has not yet issued a request for proposals to remove the ship from the harbor, she said.
Built in 1878, the Falls of Clyde is the world’s only surviving four-masted, full-rigged ship, but it is so corroded, rotted, flooded and structurally unsound that it is “effectively a dead ship” that has lost its National Register qualities, according to a 2023 evaluation that recommended delisting, 808ne.ws/3HV19Ey.
The ship’s presence has impeded past Pier 7 redevelopment plans, the DOT says on its website.
Q: Does Hawaii have an inheritance tax?
A: No, Hawaii does not have an inheritance tax, but it does have an estate tax. These taxes differ in more than name; a key difference is responsibility for paying the tax.
An inheritance tax is generally levied on the person who received the asset, while an estate tax is generally paid by the deceased person’s estate, before assets are distributed to heirs. Hawaii’s estate tax kicks in on estates worth more than $5.49 million; the tax applies to the portion above that amount (the exclusion value). For more information, see the instructions for Form M-6, Hawaii estate tax return. Find Hawaii tax forms on the state Department of Taxation’s website, at tax.hawaii.gov/forms.
Auwe
Why do some people feel the need to blast their preferred music while walking, hiking and even bicycling? I frequently walk the Makapuu Lighthouse Trail, for exercise and, at this time of year, to look for humpback whales. What should be a tranquil experience is too often punctuated by someone’s music blasting, as if we all want to hear whatever they are listening to. How selfish! Wear headphones! — Peaceful person
Mahalo
A big mahalo to a kind, considerate soldier named Danny. At about 8:45 a.m. Feb. 2, we were in a fender bender across from the Skyline station near Kamehameha Highway. It was my fault, yet he was calm and comforted me. I wish there were more Dannys in this world. Thank you from this grateful kupuna. May you always be blessed. I thank God that you weren’t hurt. — A reader
Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 7-500, Honolulu, HI 96813; call 808-529-4773; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
