Memories of old Mo'ili'ili to be shared
By James Gonser
Advertiser Urban Honolulu Writer
Mo'ili'ili residents and history buffs will gather tomorrow to discuss the area's rich past and remember when farms and fishing were the normal activities in what is now a busy urban neighborhood.
• Meeting and discussion on the history of land and water development in Mo'ili'ili • 7 p.m. tomorrow, Mo'ili'ili Community Center, 2535 S. King St., Room 207 • Parking available on the second-floor parking lot behind Down to Earth. • For information, call 955-1555
The Ala Wai Watershed Association is sponsoring the meeting in the Mo'ili'ili Community Center to discuss the roles ofÊland and water in the development of Mo'ili'ili and to gather photos and oral histories for an upcoming book, "Mo'ili'ili, The Life of a Community."
Mo'ili'ili Oral History Project
"That whole area is fascinating with respect to how the water came down from Manoa and ended up leading to the marshlands that became the Ala Wai Canal," said Karen Ah Mai, executive director of the Ala Wai Watershed Association. "That whole place was sort of a wetland."
Ah Mai said below Mo'ili'ili is a series of limestone caverns with flowing water. Those formations have contributed several sinkholes in the area over the years, she said.
Understanding this base is important in planning the future of the area, she said. The University of Hawai'i is developing plans to evolve Mo'ili'ili into a "college town" with more amenities for students, and the Kamehameha Schools, a major landowner, is making plans for its properties, which are coming off long-term leases.
Laura Ruby, co-coordinator for the book which is expected to be published in the fall, will lead the discussion and present a slide show of photographs from the area.
People are encouraged to bring photos of their own and share their stories at the meeting, which would be added to a growing archive of information about Mo'ili'ili and possibly be included in the book.
The area is best remembered today as the site of the old Honolulu Stadium at King and Isenberg streets, which opened in 1926. It was the premier sports center on O'ahu until, termite-ridden and eclipsed by Aloha Stadium, it was torn down in 1976. Today, Honolulu Stadium Park occupies the site.
Ruby said many Hawaiians lived in the area in the 1800s but were mostly gone by the turn of the century. Mo'ili'ili became known for its vegetables and flowers as well as farms for pigs and chickens.
By the 1920s, housing tracts began to appear, eventually pushing the farms out of Honolulu.
Ruby said the book is being put together with countless hours of work by volunteers and with grants from Malama O Manoa, the Hawai'i Council for the Humanities, First Hawaiian Bank, Central Pacific Bank, Atherton Foundation, Group 70, the State Foundation on Culture & the Arts and resident Nancy Bannick.
Reach James Gonser at jgonser@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2431.
