Updated at 1:10 p.m., Wednesday, July 30, 2003
Waialua annex fire a setback for library
By Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writer
In these days of budget cuts, the tiny Waialua Public Library depends on the money raised by its Friends of the Library group to purchase books and pay for activities.
Ron Valenciana But last night, everything the Friends owned went up in smoke. A two-alarm fire destroyed the old Waialua Sugar Plantation annex building, which housed the Friends' inventory of about 2,000 used books. Also destroyed in were tables, tents and signs used by the Friends at its book sales. Investigators were at the scene this morning trying to determine a cause and a damage estimate for the blaze, which was reported at 5:42 p.m., said Honolulu Fire Department spokesman Capt. Kenison Tejada. "Because the room collapsed and there was a semi-basement, it was hard to tell what was in there," Tejada said today. The Friends group holds a monthly book sale and raises about $9,500 annually for the library. Although one of the smallest public libraries in the state, the Waialua branch is one of the busiest. The Friends of Waialua Library is credited with keeping the library well-stocked with new books and videos, and raising money for reading programs and other activities. "That’s one of our biggest sources of revenue to help the library," said Friends of Waialua Library president Marjorie Russell. "What we donate to the library is probably (equal to) their annual budget from the Legislature. "It looks like everything is pretty much gone. Now that we don’t have those books, we’re out of that income for the next several months." But the fire didn’t destroy just the Friends' inventory. It also burned down a historic link to the old plantation days. During its better days, the 70-year-old annex served as a community center for the Waialua plantation community. The 2,000-square-foot building, with a stage and ‘ohi‘a wood floors, sat next to the main plantation offices. In addition to the books, the building stored coffee beans and was to have been renovated for use as classrooms. Waialua Sugar shut down in 1996. "It was a gorgeous building," Russell said. She said the Friends will begin today to rebuild its inventory. But Russell said her group will have to find a new storage room because there is no space at the library. For more than five years, Dole Plantation has allowed the Friends to store book sale items in a 10-by-12-foot room at the annex. A Dole official declined to comment last night on whether another site is available.
After the fire, the old Waialua Sugar Plantation annex was a smoldering ruin last night. The structure, described as a “gorgeous building,” housed used books intended for sale as a Waialua library fund-raiser.
