Arms raised high, and whoops of glory resonated through Wednesday’s Council Chambers in the historic County Building.
Those cheers came from the 6-1 passage of Bill No. 2951, Draft 1 — A bill for an ordinance amending Chapter 8, Kauai County Code 1987, as amended, related to commercial use of park facilities, The Bill, on the agenda for the Kauai County Council meeting, created a morning filled with debate from people favoring and opposing the measure that would allow the farmer market to resume in Princeville.
The Bill was also joined on the agenda by a celebration of the 111th anniversary of the County Building, which was put in service on May 9, 1914, just two days after the formation of the Kauai Historical Society. Kelli Cadavona of the Historical Society told council members it is the oldest County Building in Hawaii, and more than a thousand people from Kauai and Niihau attended the opening.
The Kauai Historical Society’s mission is to collect, preserve, and disseminate the oral, written, and pictorial story of Kauai County and to educate ourselves and the public about the history and different cultures of Kauai and Niihau, states a celebratory proclamation issued by the County Council.
“I had no idea of what the Kauai Historical Society was all about until I was invited by Executive Director Pam Chock,” said Council Chair Mel Rapozo. “They even have high school annuals.”
Like the Council Meeting, the presentation is a minute within the walls of the historic County Building, where the Kauai Historical Society’s offices and library are located.
The proclamation said that on May 15, 1996, the Kauai Historical Society entered a 20-year lease with the County of Kauai to house the historical collections in the historic County Building, suites 101 and 102, which was formerly occupied by the mayor and staff.
This was following Hurricane Iniki’s devastation of the Coco Palms Resort, the Society’s former home, in 1992.
Former mayor Maryanne Kusaka was in office at the time and remembers how the space became available after the Office of the Mayor was relocated to the Moikeha Building and work started to restore the historic County Building.
Pam Chock, executive director for the Kauai Historical Society, said the anniversary is a year-long celebration and more events, especially oral histories where historical society teams can go to a community, or people can make appointments to come in to record, are planned, where the public can get to know the Society better.
For more information, visit kauaihistoricalsociety.org.
