Posted on: Tuesday, January 21, 2003
Cemetery proposal unsettles families
Advertiser Staff and News Services
An O'ahu cemetery that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization more than a year ago wants to tear down its pagoda, leaving hundreds of niche owners searching for other places to have their loved ones interred.
Instead of spending more than $1 million to repair the deteriorating pagoda, The owners of the Honolulu Memorial Cemetery in Nu'uanu want to spend $200,000 to tear it down.
However, hundreds of people have already paid thousands of dollars for niches in the Japanese pagoda and are upset at the park's plan. Being interred inside or near a pagoda holds tremendous significance for those of the Buddhist faith.
"You know what they're telling me? They're telling me they're going to walk all over my father's grave and I'm not going to allow them to do that," said Wayne Kotomori, whose father died last month.
Kotomori has been unable to place his father's urn in the niche purchased by his family decades ago because of the park's plan.
About 300 people attended a meeting yesterday at Hosoi Garden Mortuary to discuss the future of the park.
"It's a little disturbing to everyone so they want to know what's going on," said Roy Gomes, who invested in the pagoda.
Park officials have assured niche owners that no one will be left without a final resting place, offering a nearby temple or elsewhere on the grounds. But some niche owners are demanding a renovated pagoda.
Honolulu Memorial Park filed for bankruptcy on Dec. 28, 2001. At the time, the company listed assets of $815,932, including a small office building, unsold plots and niches, and $60,000 in cash.
The filing listed monthly income of $2,000 and monthly expenses of $11,000.
The landmark contains 1,765 niches, of which 1,267 were sold as of a year ago. Officials said there was enough space elsewhere in the park to accommodate those already interred in about 100 niches in the pagoda, but there wouldn't be enough space for families who owned empty niches.
The pagoda was built in 1966 and is a replica of the Sanju Pagoda in Nara, Japan.
