Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 29, Number 4, 1 April 2012 — OHA Grantee Profile: Lunalilo Trust Estate Restoring a king's final resting place [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

OHA Grantee Profile: Lunalilo Trust Estate Restoring a king's final resting place

By Sarah Paeheeo n his will, King William Charles Lunalilo provided for the establishment and funding of a home for infirmed and destitute Hawaiians. In existence since 1883, Lunalilo Home continues to carry out his request to this day, and as a show of immense gratitude, the trustees of the King William Charles Lunalilo Trust recently oversaw the complete restoration and repair of the monarch's hnal resting plaee. "I think it's an honor to pay tribute to the king who gave so generously of all of his assets for our kūpuna," says J. Kuhio Asam, Lunalilo Home executive director. Unlike all other monarchs of

the Kingdom of Hawai'i, Lunalilo is not buried at the royal mausoleum, Mauna 'Ala. (The only other member of royalty not at the Nu'uanu cemetery is Kamehameha the Great, whose bones were buried in a secret location.) By Lunalilo's request, his remains rest in a tomb on the grounds of Kawaiaha'o Church that was dedicated by the church's executive committee after his death, in 1874. Lunalilo was the Hawaiian Kingdom's first elected monarch. "He was 'The People's King' and wanted to be (buried) with his people," said Asam, noting that Lunalilo's father, High Chief

Charles Kana'ina, and two other relatives also are buried on the Honolulu church grounds. The King Lunalilo Tomb was completed in 1875, and in 1879 the Supreme Court of the Kingdom of Hawai'i placed the right of possession, care and control of the tomb in the hands of the Lunalilo Estate trustees. In the last 137 years, there have been only two sets of documented repairs to the tomb, onee in 1888 and again in 1947. Asam said the extent of the deterioration heeame apparent when a Lunalilo Trust trustee visited the tomb in 2009. "(He) noticed a number of things - the deterioration of the kāhili that were in there

andthe tomb structure itself," Asam recounts. "It was to a point where delaying (repairs) mueh further would have taken it past the ability for us to restore the structure itself." The trust hired Mason Architects Ine. to prepare a comprehensive existing condition analysis of the tomb and its surroundings, whieh was completed later that year. The report, accompanied by photos and sketches, showed repairs to almost all areas were badly needed - to the tomb's roof and drainage systems, exterior masonry walls, entrance porch, doors, steps, windows and interior room, where Lunalilo's white marble sarcophagus lies. The surrounding landscape, lighting, pond, kāhili pedestals and wrought-iron fence also were in need of some serious TLC. In 2010 a fundraising campaign began with the goal of raising $500,000 through institutional and private donors. Thanks to an

overwhelming positive response from those involved, a total of $601,000 was raised, $150,000 of whieh eame from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, while the remaining sum was obtained through matching donations by the Queen Lili'uokalani Trust, Kamehameha Schools, Queen's Heahh Systems and a $1,000 private gift from the Dolores Furtado Martin Foundation. "Half-a-million-dollars-plus is a lot of money to raise, but the institutes were all very generous, and onee it heeame clear that we got commitments from them, we could actually restore the entire grounds and tomb both inside and out," Asam says. "It was after that that we thought we could really do this and make it work." Restoration work and repairs began in early 2011 under the SEE LUNALILO ON PAGE 33

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AB0VE: Lunalilo Tomb after the restoration. INSET: Before the restoration, typical fence deterioration included major rusting and missing elements. RIGHT: Restored section of fence showing newly cast replacement finials and small crowns and a repaired plastered base,- Courtesy: Mason Architects

LUNALILO Continued from page 22

direction of architect Glenn Mason and were conducted by Darcey Builders Ine. and Progressive Landscaping ine. and in conjunction with Kawaiaha'o Church. In addition to the tomb's historical importance, it also holds great architectural significance. It is one of the earliest concrete-block structures built in Hawai'i and is an example of the Gothic Revival style, with a symmetrical Greek cross plan with steep intersecting gable roofs. For these reasons, workers took great care to keep the building's integrity in mind, often referring to historic photos from the Hawai'i State Archives and researching other architectural aspects from that time period to ensure significant characteristics of the mausoleum be

kept intact. The project was substantially completed in January 2012, with a handful of minute details needing to be finished. A private dedication of the tomb and the site conducted by Kahu Kekuna was held that month for representatives from the donor organizations, and the newly restored tomb was opened to the puhlie for the first time on Jan. 29, an Ali'i Sunday marking Lunalilo's birthday. Although the tomb is not open to the puhlie, its grounds are accessible daily for visitation, something Asam highly recommends: "It's just a really niee plaee to go and reflect about his gifts to the Hawaiian people, especially our kūpuna." ■ Sarah Paeheeo, an 0'ahu-based freelance writer, is aformer assistant regional editorfor MidWeek