Historic Kipapa school building to be torn down

By James Gonser
Advertiser Leeward Bureau

MILILANI — Nearly seven years of efforts to save Kipapa Elementary School's aging Building B from demolition have failed, and the 69-year-old historic structure is set be torn down next month.

The old wooden building on the campus of Kipapa Elementary School, which was built in 1932, is now boarded up. It will be demolished next month. Advertiser library photo

"We have very mixed feelings about having it torn down because we worked so hard to save the building," Toma said. "Finding that we no longer could save it, we had to make that decision."

The 100-foot-long building has suffered severe structural damage from termite infestation, education officials at the time said the cost to repair the building was too high, and there were liability issues in using the structure for classes.

The group had the building placed on the National Register of Historic Places and hoped to move it to Hawai'i's Plantation Village in Waipahu, where many plantation-era buildings have been restored for tourism and educational use.

Despite a federally financed $200,000 community development block grant and donations from residents, the move and repairs, estimated at almost $750,000, and the cost of maintaining the building once moved were just too high, Toma said.

	Aloha Celebration
•	What: An Aloha Celebration to commemorate Building B.
•	Who: The assembly will include the entire student body as well as former students, teachers and guests, who will reflect on the building and the history of the area.
•	When: 9 a.m. Monday.
•	Where: In front of the historic wooden structure.

Building B, with its shady veranda, wooden walls and old-fashioned fixtures, was erected in 1931 when Mililani was still called Waipio and was filled with pineapple fields.

At the time of its opening in 1932, Kipapa School served Kipapa Village, the headquarters of the Libby, McNeil and Libby plantation, and other farming companies in the area.

After newer, concrete buildings were erected to serve the growing population of Mililani, Building B continued to be used as a classroom, library, kitchen and resource center until it was declared unsafe and boarded up in 1994.

Kyle Kuroda, a parent and president of the school's parent-teacher group, said the school has a rich history and the building has become a symbol of the past.

"It is too bad we couldn't save the building," Kuroda said.

Alisa Yap, one of the former Kipapa students involved with the effort to save the building, remembers feeling special when having classes in the old building.

"I'm sad to see it go, but at the same time it is for the safety of the children," said Yap, now a student at the University of Hawai'i.

Toma said the group plans to create a photo gallery to keep the history of the building alive.

"Once the building is gone, we cannot go back, but we can remember through the photos and the stories," said Toma, who taught in Building B for 12 years.

Some pieces of the structure, including a window, parts of the railing and an air vent from the roof, will also be incorporated into the display.

"We learned a lot going through this process and met a lot of friends," Toma said. "We will still have something of the building, something we can touch, so it is not a total loss."