Posted on: Saturday, July 15, 2006
And the Top 10 Chinatown winners are ...
By Robbie Dingeman
Advertiser Staff Writer
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10 BRIGHT IDEAS
Modification ... Re-creation of Nu'uanu Streamside Pedestrian Mall A Night at 'A'ala Park Parking Meter System Changes Mural Art for Chinatown Arts and Crafts Fairs in Chinatown Expand the weekly "Hawaii Chinese News" Chinatown Night Market Chinatown Cultural Showcase Historic Preservation Plaques Aural Futures — A Guided Walking Tour of Alternative Futures
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Architect Val Yanagihara sees a new pedestrian bridge across Nu'uanu Stream as both a real and symbolic link between the green space of 'A'ala Park and the heart of Chinatown, nurturing a mall where people will want to walk.
"It's just like bringing the park to Chinatown," Yanagihara said.
That idea is one of 10 to win the "Bright Ideas" competition sponsored locally by the city and the Hawai'i Arts Alliance. A community panel made the picks, each of which includes a $4,000 grant.
The ideas range from cultural and art-oriented — murals, tours and night markets — to an innovative concept for parking meters. Today, the various proposals will be available for viewing at The ARTS at Marks Garage.
Mayor Mufi Hannemann said he was pleased that 130 ideas were submitted to the competition, which grew out of the mayor's recent Chinatown Summit. He thanked the Ford Foundation and American Savings Bank, Bank of Hawai'i, Central Pacific Bank, First Hawaiian Bank and Hawai'i National Bank for providing the funding.
Kelfred Chang was happy to hear that his group's project, A Night at 'A'ala Park, was a winner. The idea is to create an outdoor big-screen Asian ethnic movie night similar to Sunset on the Beach several times during the year, with cultural groups and food booths.
Chang acknowledged that the money won't go too far toward creating the program but said community and government cooperation will be key to the success of such a project.
Yanagihara agreed. The money makes a nice start, but he's pleased to hear city and state officials considering the ideas.
Yanagihara said adding a 20-foot-wide pedestrian bridge from 'A'ala Park across Nu'uanu Stream can help spark an interest in beautifying the area into an attraction for visitors and residents.
While there are two other, smaller pedestrian bridges, he said, one larger one would make a big difference in a key location, helping to create a corridor of interesting things to see and do.
The rest of the "Bright Ideas in Chinatown" winners as profiled by the sponsors:
Parking Meter System Changes — Kim Coffee-Isaak. Promote easy access and convenient affordable parking as an integral part of a thriving neighborhood by implementing meters that accept both coin and electronic card readers, and using other cities as models, prepaid parking cards and cell-phone-paid parking.
Mural Art for Chinatown — Helene Brongniart. Beautify and improve Chinatown by using blank walls as canvasses to promote art, education, history, culture and social justice, encouraging residents and visitors to tour the area.
Arts and Crafts Fairs in Chinatown — Hui-Fang Bauer. To capitalize on increasing tourism and cruise-ship passengers at Aloha Tower and to attract residents to shop from local vendors and tour the Chinatown area.
Expand the weekly Hawaii Chinese News — Elroy Chun. To provide internships for interested high school and college students to prepare news stories and features on individuals and businesses in the residential/merchant community in Chinatown for this bilingual, Chinatown-based publication that also reaches older ethnic Chinese.
Chinatown Night Market — Zheng Qirong of the Chinese Culinary Arts Society. To create an evening activity to limit undesirable activity in the area and to revitalize Chinatown through a night market at Smith-Beretania Neighborhood Park during First Fridays to bridge the Arts and Cultural District with Chinatown.
Chinatown Cultural Showcase — Elaine Evans of the Hawaii Theatre Center. Have a professional producer work with Chinatown residents to showcase their talents and create a multicultural variety show to celebrate the cultures and traditions that co-exist in Chinatown.
Historic Preservation Plaques — JoDee Hunt. Install museum-quality plaques on corners of buildings, determined by their historical or cultural significance to Chinatown. Each plaque would give a short story about or a description of the historical significance of the building.
Aural Futures — A Guided Walking Tour of Alternative Futures — Jake Dunagan and staff of the Hawai'i Research Center for Future Studies at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa. Do an in-depth analysis and description of major Chinatown landmarks, not as they exist now but as they would (or would not) exist in several distinct alternative futures, and create a Chinatown walking tour of 2036.
Reach Robbie Dingeman at rdingeman@honoluluadvertiser.com.
