Smack in the middle of downtown Honolulu, a building next to the State Capitol is getting a $7 million facelift.
The No. 1 Capitol District Building, which houses the Hawaii State Art Museum and a handful of government offices, has been undergoing renovations since last August. Repairs, expected to be completed by November, include fumigating to rid termites, replacing clay roof tiles, repairing cracks, waterproofing and repainting. It’s the most expensive and extensive project to date on the building since the state acquired it nearly two decades ago.
Water leaks meant “the gallery floors were buckling,” said Jonathan Johnson, executive director of the Hawaii State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, which operates the state art museum. Fortunately, no artwork sustained damage.
“It will be a glorious ship when it’s done,” Johnson said. “It’s like an old vessel — it has character.”
The historic building is on the site of Hawaii’s first hotel — the original Royal Hawaiian Hotel built in 1862 by King Kamehameha V. In 1917, the wooden building was converted to the Army and Navy YMCA. It was demolished in 1926, given damage from overuse and termites.
Two years later, a new building was erected for the YMCA, and included 268 bedrooms, a swimming pool, billiards room, barber shop, gymnasium and cafeteria. The property then changed hands twice — first to Hawaii resort developer Hemmeter Corp. in 1987 and then to a Japanese company in 1990 — before the state government snapped it up for $22.5 million in 2000.
Since then, the state has spent $18 million on repairs and renovation for the building, including the current project. In 2010, the state spent $1.7 million to convert the swimming pool into the current sculpture garden. Other than that, the building has only received basic maintenance, and was thus overdue for repairs, said Comptroller Rod Becker of the state’s department of accounting and general services, which is overseeing the renovations.
Although the museum galleries have stayed open during construction, other parts have been closed to the public; the sculpture garden is currently off-limits.
Once renovations are finished, two massive black-and-white glazed ceramic sculpture heads by Jun Kaneko, a Japanese artist based in Nebraska, will be installed on the front lawn. In the sculpture garden, a 12-foot whimsical bronze animal sculpture, “Mr. Chickenpants,” by Honolulu artist May Izumi will be added.
“Mr. Chickenpants will own the garden,” Johnson said, “He was designed specifically for that.”
Last year, the state art museum hosted a record 69,000 visitors, more than double the attendance in 2015. Johnson attributed the jump to increased efforts to engage the public via social media and offering more programming, such as lunchtime artist talks and staying open into the evening on the first Friday of each month.
The museum houses “one of the most important collections of local artists,” said Katherine Tuider, executive director and co-founder of the Honolulu Biennial Foundation, an arts festival. In recent years, she has observed the museum “making an effort to do as many community programs as possible … to reach out to a much broader audience.”
Since 1978, the building has been on the National Register of Historic Properties. As such, renovations were reviewed by the state’s historic preservation division to ensure the building would be restored to its former stature, rather than change its nature.
“Old is good!” said state deputy comptroller Audrey Hidano.
