HFD headquarters planned for Kaka'ako
By Mike Leidemann
Advertiser Staff Writer
The city plans to build a $12.7 million headquarters for the Honolulu Fire Department in Kaka'ako and renovate a nearby historic station for use as a department museum.
The 32,000-square-foot headquarters will replace the current one in the airport industrial area, city spokeswoman Carol Costa said.
The new three-story building will house the operations, executive and fire prevention bureaus of the department as well as administrative support services. The fire alarm bureau will stay in the Honolulu Municipal Building.
It will be the first time in the 152-year-old department's history that it will have a building solely for its own use, Costa said.
"It's been a long, long haul," said Honolulu Fire Chief Attilio Leonardi. "We outgrew the old facility years ago. We service the 11th-largest city in the country, and we deserve a facility of our own."
The building will allow the department to bring together some offices that have been scattered around town. "We'll finally have a conference room big enough to fit all our officers in at the same time," Leonardi said.
The new facility will be on the site of what was a gas station at the corner of Queen and South streets, between the historic old Kaka'ako station and the station that replaced it in 1974.
Once the headquarters is built, work will begin on restoring the original fire station, which will be converted into a Fire Department museum and educational center. Renovations to the historic building are expected to cost $1.5 million.
The museum will display fire apparatus and other memorabilia that the department has been collecting for years, Leonardi said. The second floor will have educational displays, including one on the life of a firefighter.
"It will be a place for kids to come and learn about the department and get a feel for the history," he said.
"That sounds great. We're in complete agreement with the concept. We've always said use it or lose it," said David Scott, executive director of Historic Hawai'i Foundation. "It's a good adaptive reuse of the building and one more way to tell the story of the downtown area."
The original Kaka'ako station, built in 1929, is on the state Register of Historic Places along with several other Honolulu fire stations. It originally housed a horse-and-buggy crew.
It was designed by architect Solomon Kenn with the era's characteristic two-story Spanish Missionary style, a 60-foot tower where rubber fire hoses were hung to dry, and a distinctive green tile roof and a classic brass sliding pole.
It was deactivated when the new station was built around the corner on Queen Street.
The last part of the new city project is expected to be a $750,000 renovation and repair project on the existing fire station on Queen Street and construction of a 51-stall ground-level parking lot.
The new headquarters building will have a distinctive "fire department" look that blends in with the styles of the 1929 and 1974 buildings, Leonardi said.
Construction is expected to start later this year, after several more permits are obtained. Most work should be complete by the end of 2004.
