LIHU‘E — Makeover and renovations for the former Lihu‘e Courthouse will follow historic guidelines because the building is listed on the Hawai‘i Register and the National Register of Historic Places since 1981. The project to give the Historic Lihu‘e Courthouse
LIHU‘E — Makeover and renovations for the former Lihu‘e Courthouse will follow historic guidelines because the building is listed on the Hawai‘i Register and the National Register of Historic Places since 1981.
The project to give the Historic Lihu‘e Courthouse a makeover is in the planning phase, according to the state Department of Accounting and General Services, Tuesday.
DAGS officials told the Senate Ways and Means Committee during a briefing Thursday that the department will be asking the state Legislature to approve funding for full renovations, including office space conversion and addressing hazardous material abatement, states a Senate press release.
The project is expected to be completed in 2014, if funding becomes available.
Once renovations are complete, the state plans to move agencies currently in commercial office leases into the historic building.
“Occupying the building with some state agencies will save taxpayers money and greatly reduce what we spend on leasing space,” said in the release Sen. Ron Kouchi, D-Kaua‘i-Ni‘ihau. “We would be able to save about $800,000 in leasing office space to house various state departments each year.”
The building which formerly housed the judiciary has been sitting empty for the last two years, after it was used as a transitional shelter for homeless families from June 2007 to June 2009.
