Pools you don't fill with Sand

Pools You Do Not Fill With Sand.

(Or Demolish.)

Clockwise from top left: Taj Mahal, India; The Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C., USA; The Washington Memorial, Washington D.C., USA; The Waikiki War Memorial Natatorium, Hawaii, USA

Jon Radke, Photo

There are swimming pools and there are memorial pools. In 1921, the Legislature of the Territory of Hawaii commissioned a World War I Memorial that is both.

Today, despite 80 years of municiple neglect, the Waikiki War Memorial Natatorium remains one of the most unique man-made landmarks of Hawaii.

The years of neglect have caused safety concerns so severe that the memorial has been closed to the public since the 1980s. It has been closed so long that some people believe that the only publicly visible part, acrhed facade entrance, is "the essence of the memorial."

After decades of debate and numerous studies, full restoration is not only the moral choice of the community, it also remains the most fiscally and environmentally responsible choice.

Depite the studies and community collobaration leading up to the fully-funded memorial restoration, in 2005, the City County of Honolulu stopped the restoration in progress to re-evaluate demolition options.

To find out the real story, the facts and the plans, please visit the War Memorial Natatorium feature at Historic Hawaii Foundation's website.