Posted on: Friday, September 10, 2004

Korean War items to be stored after foreclosure sale

By Rod Ohira
Advertiser Central O'ahu Writer

Confirmation of a foreclosure sale yesterday of a Wahiawa property will force the National Korean War Museum to find a new home.

Kyle Kopitke, president of the museum's board of trustees, received a letter last Friday from attorney Jason Wong, representing the owner, Richard Thies, notifying him that Thies does not intend to lease or rent the property.

Thies bid $570,678 at a court-ordered foreclosure auction last month for the industrial-zoned properties at 235 Kellogg St. and 232-E Koa St.

Circuit Judge Karen Blondin confirmed Thies' bid after no new bids were offered yesterday for the 200-foot-long Quonset hut building and property.

Kopitke is undeterred by the setback.

"There's two ways to look at this," he said. "Either the guillotine has fallen on our neck or we've got to find a larger facility.

"We have 10,000 square feet now and it's too small," Kopitke added. "We have enough items pledged to fill 20,000 square feet. Our first priority is to stay in Hawai'i. Our second priority is to look on the Mainland."

Michel Vega, the court-appointed commissioner for the sale, has given Kopitke 30 days to vacate the property.

"We'll be complying with that," Kopitke said. "We've done everything we can (here). I've shed tears over this, I've been on my knees (to pray), I've fasted. Maybe there's a bigger, better place for us. We're not going to close this down."

There are about 2,000 items in the museum at Wahiawa, says Kopitke. Some have been donated and others are on loan. The items will be placed in storage when the current museum closes down, he said.

"We've been contacting people about items on loan to us and everyone so far has told us to put it in the next museum."

The foreclosure action was taken against Maria Abello and her company, Teancum Inc., which bought the Kellogg Street property in September 2003 from Thies. The bid figure of $570,678 was computed from the amount owed on Abello's defaulted loan, which was $528,945 as of Oct. 19, 2003, plus per diem of $109.59 per day for a set period.

Reach Rod Ohira at 535-8181 or rohira@honoluluadvertiser.com.