The North Shore community has planned a blessing and dedication ceremony on May 11 to mark the completion of the Hale Halawai ‘Ohana ‘O Hanalei – the North Shore’s first permanent community center. The ceremony will be held between 2
The North Shore community has planned a blessing and dedication ceremony on May 11 to mark the completion of the Hale Halawai ‘Ohana ‘O Hanalei – the North Shore’s first permanent community center.
The ceremony will be held between 2 and 5 p.m. around the halau, which is named after a traditional Hawaiian longhouse used for storing canoes, for hula instructions and other practical uses. The halau at Hanalei is the third piece of a three-phase center that includes a main building and a teen center. Both have been operational for some time.
Also known as the Hanalei Family Center, the facility provides much-needed space for community activities, services and projects, said Karen Lovatto, a spokeswoman for the project.
Six years in the making, the facility is a source of pride for the community because it was initiated and built by local residents, Lovatto said.
The facility is the first community center in Hawai’i that was built without government funds, Lovatto said.
The center is located on 1 1/2 acres of land on the mauka side of Kuhio Highway adjacent to the soccer field park next to the Wai’oli Hui’ia Church.
The center contains a kitchen, arts and craft area, first aid station, administrative offices, restrooms, meeting and recreational spaces and the youth center, which is equipped with computers and pool tables.
The land next to the community center is used for agricultural projects, including those involving growing native and medicinal plants, and a community garden.
The center offers classes in the Hawaiian language, traditional fishing, Ho’oponopono practices, traditional fishing, ukulele playing, community chorus, Hawaiian arts and crafts and slack key guitar.
The center also is the site for family and community events, including video and movie nights, dances, concerts, performances and hukilau.
Also offered are information and referral services, health information, yoga, exercise, senior food distribution and Alcohol Anonymous services.
The center was built at a cost of about $400,000, of which $200,000 was a grant from the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation. Other funds came from private funds, grants and in-kind service. Supporters of the project continue to welcome donations today.
The project was the brainchild of the late Jackie Hashimoto and Kapeka Chandler, both Hanalei residents.
“They wanted a place where the community would have a gathering place, and now it is a reality,” Lovatto said.
The community center has been a dream of many generations of Hanalei residents, supporters of the project said.
It is a place where people of all ages and cultural backgrounds can come together, they said.
Among the key goals of the center is to strengthen family and cultural values, encourage networking of government agencies, organizations, businesses and residents to work together to support projects that will benefit the community.
Prior to the construction of the community center, residents held meetings and activities at the Hanalei courthouse or the Hanalei Elementary School cafeteria.
Those facilities were either destroyed or were not immediately available for public use after Hurricane ‘Iniki in 1992.
The devastation of that storm focused attention on the need for a permanent physical facility in Hanalei, say supporters of the family center.
Staff writer Lester Chang can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) and mailto:lchang@pulitzer.net
