Court to announce pagoda vote

By James Gonser
Advertiser Urban Honolulu Writer

The fate of the Japanese pagoda at Honolulu Memorial Park in Nu'uanu could be decided this morning when the results of voting by shareholders on the cemetery owner's bankruptcy plan are announced in court.

Wayne Kotomori is among the niche holders most opposed to tearing down the pagoda. Advertiser library photo • Jan. 24, 2003

A ballot to accept or reject the plan was sent to all pagoda niche holders, and bankruptcy Judge Robert Faris will be given the results today.

Attorney David Farmer, who represents a group of pagoda niche holders, said he expects the plan to be rejected and for a new plan to be developed.

"It will really be up to Guben to determine the next step to suggest to the court," Farmer said. "He could ask for additional time to address the objections or develop a different plan. There could be a variety of scenarios."

Wayne Kotomori, whose father — the owner of several family niches and plots in the cemetery — died recently, has been the primary voice of opposition to the plan. He says the owners were negligent in not maintaining the pagoda.

Kotomori, 55, was arrested over the weekend for allegedly assaulting Steven Ruble, the cemetery's on-site manager, and impersonating a police officer.

According to police, Kotomori allegedly entered Ruble's office Feb. 7 wearing an HPD T-shirt and hat and identified himself as a police officer. Ruble was talking on the telephone at the time with an attorney and mentioned Kotomori's name. Police said Kotomori allegedly grabbed the telephone, struck Ruble on the cheek and said something to the lawyer before leaving the office.

Kotomori, who did not return calls for this story, was released Sunday after posting $200 bail.

Farmer said Kotomori is not his client, and some of the other niche owners believe he has gone too far by holding protests and alienating the niche owners from the stakeholders.

"There is a difference between a segment of niche owners and Wayne," Farmer said. "Rather than making it an 'us versus them' thing, they want to sit down at the table and craft a solution that is going to work to solve this. There may be a difference of opinion on the pagoda staying or not. Some owners think that is vitally important, and some don't see it as a major issue. Everybody agrees that the ongoing perpetual care is concern number one."

Herbert "Monty" Richards Jr., whose father founded the cemetery in 1958 and turned it over to his children in 1973, said the business has been a financial drain for many years and there is no money to repair the pagoda, which was built in 1966 as a replica of the Sanju Pagoda in Nara, Japan.

Richards said if the bankruptcy plan is rejected, one of the few options would be to file Chapter 7 bankruptcy, under which a trustee would be appointed by the court to liquidate the assets rather than the owners developing a plan to save the business.

Resolutions have been introduced in both the City Council and the Legislature to try to have the pagoda listed on the National Registry of Historic Places, which could prevent it from being torn down.

Architect Lorraine Palumbo, who specializes in Japanese temples and pagodas, said she inspected the pagoda and found that the damage is mostly to the roof and concrete rafters. She said it would likely cost less than the estimated $1 million to repair and that it is a historic building that needs to be saved.

"It's the only pagoda outside of Japan and the only concrete pagoda in existence," Palumbo said. "Those are two very unique things. When it was constructed in Japan, they made molds from wood and brought the molds to Hawai'i and rebuilt it here. All the pieces are authentically done. ... I could see that traditional carpenters constructed this pagoda."

Reach James Gonser at jgonser@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2431.