Posted on: Thursday, October 7, 2004

Remains found at Waikiki site

By Vicki Viotti and Will Hoover
Advertiser Staff Writers

An archaeological team found human remains on a vacant Waikiki lot yesterday during the initial survey on the site of a planned apartment complex for the elderly.

Developers and state officials are hopeful that finding the bones this early in the process means that the matter can be settled in time for the scheduled groundbreaking in early- to mid-2005.

The Tusitala Vista project, on a lot bounded by Ala Wai Boulevard and Tusitala Street, is in the area of Waikiki known as 'Ainahau, a 10-acre property that was once the home of Princess Ka'iulani.

It's the site one of the state's just-announced low-income rental projects that will be financed by federal and state tax credits and federal low-interest loans.

The nine-story complex of 107 apartments is being developed by the nonprofit Hawai'i Housing Development Corp. at a cost of about $20 million.

It is not uncommon for human remains to be found at Island construction sites. Remedies can range from reburial at another site to leaving the remains in place and altering construction plans.

Officials for the State Historic Preservation Division will inspect the site today, said Sara Collins, the division's archaeology branch chief.

Gary Furuta, the development corporation's project manager, said project officials would await the state's findings and "pursue it in the proper way."

The initial word from the archaeological consultants on the site yesterday was that pig bones were found, but Collins said the completed test results showed otherwise.

What happens next depends on what further examination reveals, she said.

If the remains are Native Hawaiian, the decision-making process would involve the O'ahu Island Burial Council. The council's chairman, Van Horn Diamond, said the process, in which possible descendants are called to submit a claim on the remains, can take at least three to four months.

The remains were discovered during a site inventory, in which about a half-dozen trenches are dug in search of possible archaeological artifacts or burials.

"This is the way it's supposed to happen," Collins said. "It's early in the process, and there's enough time to make decisions about what should be done."

Reach Vicki Viotti at 525-8053 or vviotti@honoluluadvertiser.com.