Sunday, September 22, 2013

Historic WW-II Barbers Point Housing District Decimated, Fire Drill Ghost Town

Proposed Historic WW-II Naval Air Station Barbers Point Housing District A Decimated, Fire Drill Ghost Town

by John Bond
Like the mysteriously dying trees, many historic Barbers Point WW-II Navy houses are being given apparently an "assisted suicide" by chopping holes in their roofs to speed up the call for their demolition and clear the way for the profitable land development yet to come.

See new updates or related to this story here:

http://barbers-point.blogspot.com/2013/10/Navy-Homes-Trees-Burned.html

http://barbers-point.blogspot.com/2013/10/Kalaeloa-Arson-For-Profit.html

http://barbers-point.blogspot.com/2013/09/Big-Ewa-Trees-Dying.html
When the Navy began the BRAC (Base Realignment And Closure) process in the late 1990's, a series of expensive historic, archeological and environmental studies were commissioned to determine as much as possible what was there that should be remediated and what should be preserved for future generations.

Before and After (1980's photo and 2013 photo)
Keep in mind, WW-II was a major historic point in American history, NAS Barbers Point was built back in the wartime territorial era, and due to the war effort significant structures were designed by major, important architects and engineers of that period that worked without the usual big fees and commissions to design very exceptional buildings.
Two areas in the NAS Barbers Point were identified as historic districts that would preserve some of the key WW-II features and the historic, cultural landscape that would have been found by future visitors to the civilianized former Navy base. A chance to look back in time in what would otherwise be a sea of the usual West Oahu high density urban sprawl now taking place.
One area was designated as the NAS Barbers Point Central Core Historic District Boundary. This includes the WW-II hangars, control tower, fire station, parachute loft and a few other structures.
The other area was designated as the WW-II Housing Area Historic District Boundary. This area included some of the last best specimens of classic WW-II home design for senior naval officers who commanded air wings and operational base assets. These Hawaiian tropical designs had big yards, large canopy trees, great walkway hedges, Singapore plumeria trees, etc.

Page 290 of major Navy BRAC document showing proposed historic districts...
Unfortunately, once HCDA (Hawaii Community Development Authority) got their hands on former Naval Air Station Barbers Point and it became "Kalaeloa," the whole place largely all went to hell, -except for the main State Airport parcel. 
Historic buildings that were supposed to be preserved and infrastructure that was supposed to be protected wasn't. Fortunately because some buildings became part of the Kalaeloa State Airport and had high security fencing around them- which along with September 11, 2001 heightened airport security, caused the historic former Navy airport buildings to receive adequate security protection.
While significant amounts of Kalaeloa looting and arson took place after the closure, which could have been prevented with a reasonably small investment in combined Navy and civilian security patrols with HPD cooperation, that apparently never happened. Many very fine former Navy buildings- homes, barracks, clubs, etc. were smashed, looted and grafittied  in every way possible.
Now it unfortunately appears that the fine specimens of senior WW-II naval aviator homes aren't collapsing and screaming for obvious demolition as was hoped for, so they are being assisted in their demise by having holes hacked in their roof tops. (What an eyesore! We must knock them down!)




Some of the historic WW-II homes with hacked roofs. The last photo indicates that the local fire department may have been given these homes to use to conduct practice drills...
This isn't vandalism, this appears as very methodical and designed to cause as much interior damage as possible through weathering effects. Those who have seen this technique before know that this is how the Navy has "dealt with" historic buildings around Pearl Harbor before- open all the windows, don't do the most simple things to protect anything from the weather, make sure no grass is cut, and maybe some "creative" pre-demolition work might also take place.  (What an eyesore! We must knock them down!)
The Navy certainly hasn't authorized this to be done at former NAS Barbers Point because frankly they don't care anymore about what happens there at all. They have made that very clear, even though they are actually technically still the land owners of this property. Selling it off would require a process called a Federal Section 106, which can be a big pain- so if the historic assets can be made to "degrade" and just "go away" that just makes everything that much easier.
This entire Kalaeloa area comes under the "protective" domain of the Hawaii Community Development Authority (HCDA) which is only interested in real estate development and the profits to be made if this WW-II historic district could be made to just disappear, as has been happening with no one paying any attention...


Note the number of dying off trees from a couple of years ago compared to this 2013 photo below:

In this WW-II Historic District area only one home is still occupied (circled in red) - the former home of the commander of the naval air station. This shows how these classic historic homes could have been maintained and put on the rent or lease market rather than being destroyed through intentional neglect...



Below are photos taken before Naval Air Station Barbers Point closed, probably in the late 80's or early 90's, of these home interiors that have no doubt by now been completely looted...







These photos are part of a Library of Congress collection done back when the Federal government still had budgets for such things and still cared about historic Federal property owned by the tax payers. This rarely happens anymore, especially out in "Kalaeloa."
















And here's what they look like today, in 2013 - (What an eyesore! We must knock them down!)










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Location: Kapolei, HI, USA

Barbers Point - Kalaeloa: Big Historic Trees Dying Off, Hacked Up, Arson Burned

Barbers Point - Kalaeloa: Big Historic Trees Dying Off, Hacked Up, Arson Burned

by John Bond

See new updates or related to this story here: 

http://barbers-point.blogspot.com/2013/10/Kalaeloa-Arson-For-Profit.html


http://barbers-point.blogspot.com/2013/09/Navy-Homes-Being-Destroyed.html
Former Naval Air Station Barbers Point once had some of the largest groves of large historic Banyans and Monkey Pod Trees in all of West Oahu when the base was still in operation.
Today under the administrative control of HCDA, they appear to be dying from what some have called (half in jest?) "Agent Orange Disease"... meaning that their death may be going through an acceleration process...
Now that this valuable land is slated for big development, who needs big trees?
One might think that large canopy trees would be a great land and property asset, especially out in hot and sunny Ewa where they provide great shade and lower ground temperatures. But to some land developers who only think in terms of square foot values or maintenance issues, large trees are a big problem that they really want to have go away.
The nostalgic days of large yards around homes that made up this former Navy housing area are over. Packing in lots of buildings and a few small palm trees would be much more profitable. 
How to do it without bulldozing down large canopy trees that doesn't make for good TV news?
Perhaps a slow "Agent Orange Disease" way? Or "allow" wood cutters in to hack up trees and prune them back to near death?
Or what if someone came in and did a really good job of setting off high intensity "grass fires" and the trees all "eventually died" from the inferno?
Big Tree Hugging Paranoia?
I recently asked the Hawaii Community Development Authority (HCDA) representative at a local neighborhood board meeting about the seeming rapid demise of large trees all around the former Navy base now called Kalaeloa (the "place of excellence" according to HCDA's plan for the area), and the large number of tree trimmers out and about cutting down very large historic trees because they were apparently "in the way."
I was told that HCDA doesn't have anything in their "place of excellence plan" for large trees, so they didn't have any problem seeing the big trees go away.
This is apparently because these large canopy trees are "not native," so it is O.K under the "HCDA plan" to make them into charcoal and wood chips.
Out of curiosity I took a look at the history of the very large trees along Roosevelt Avenue in what was a former large Navy housing area using Google Earth, which has a neat History Feature that allows going back, in a certain range of time- usually about 10 years with available color imagery.
What I saw was quite an accelerated die off of large trees in the area, just along Roosevelt Avenue in the past 9 years. Some appeared to be doing just fine, but others just "disappeared" especially starting around 2008 when the big land deals started happening.
I then drove out to the same area to take some photos of these same trees and could count at least 13 large canopy trees missing and at least 5 or more close to death, compared to 2004 (the Navy base closed in 1999).
Here's the comparison of overhead images:



Here's the on the ground view of hacked up trees and arson burns. This is really a very small sampling of what is out there and NOT further in off the road which is generally blocked off:







A lack of regular watering or some mysterious tree disease is likely not the cause of death as other trees appear to be doing just fine.

You don't really know what you've got until it's gone. They paved paradise and put up a parking lot.

From "Big Yellow Taxi" (Didn't a certain well known politician used to drive a big yellow taxi?)
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Location: Honolulu, HI, USA

BRAC! NAS Barbers Point Base Realignment And Closure A Twisted Tale

BRAC! NAS Barbers Point Base Realignment And Closure A Twisted Tale


Just about as ugly as it sounds, the BRAC of Naval Air Station Barbers Point has been probably the most UGLY BRAC ever done in the United States...

It's a very TWISTED TALE (Bill the Cat would understand) with political land deals that former Congressional representative and Hawaii Governor Neil Abercrombie called the "originator, the initiator" of this type of land sale...

Many believe today that the whole affair was the worst deal ever made by the "naive" US Navy and some officers 'regretted" they were pushed into it by certain politicians.

Engineered in the back rooms by Navy real estate insiders and Hawaii's political bosses, this incredible deal involving thousands of acres of public tax-payer owned land has abled some to make vast, spectacular profits in just a few years...

Some articles written by William Cole, Honolulu Advertiser...

Navy renovation plans model for cooperative projects   -  July 4, 2003

http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2003/Jul/04/ln/ln13a.html

"I think we'll be the model for projects to come all across the nation," U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawai'i, said.

The Navy is selling or leasing the 34 acres on Ford Island, 400 acres at Iroquois Point/Pu'uloa, 130 acres at Kalaeloa, 515 acres at Waikele Naval Magazine, and 6.6 acres at Halawa Landing.

At the ceremonial signing of a master developer agreement last month with Fluor, U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie said Hawai'i was the "originator, the initiator" of the type of land sale and lease deal that is expected to be a model for similar projects across the country.

Navy aircraft carrier at Pearl Harbor more likely  - July 14, 2003

http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2003/Jul/14/mn/mn01a.html

(Barbers Point - Kalaeloa "almost" becomes base for carrier wing...)

Officials say the runways at Kalaeloa could be used without the base being reactivated, as a hybrid use in tandem with Hickam and with the goal of minimizing noise for communities around Kalaeloa.

Typically, an air wing embarks four times with a carrier for training during a two-year cycle of training and deployment, the 1999 study said.

2,000 military homes to go on rental market  - August 18, 2003

http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2003/Aug/18/ln/ln01a.html

The Navy said the market value of Ford Island Properties' leasehold interest at Ford Island was appraised to be worth $61 million, and the value of 499 acres at Kalaeloa was appraised to be worth $75 million.

In an $84 million development deal that began in 2003, the Navy leased or sold five underused properties in exchange for in-kind construction and infrastructure repairs on Ford Island.

The deal then with Ford Island Properties was unprecedented and was made possible through special legislation passed by Congress in 1999.

The Navy gave the developer 65-year leases at Iroquois Point and Pu'uloa, the 40-acre parcel on Ford Island and the 6.6-acre Halawa Landing.

The developers also were allowed to purchase 695 acres of housing at Kalaeloa after three years and were given rights to the 515-acre former Waikele Naval Magazine.

Navy to hand over 499 Kalaeloa acres to private builder - January 19, 2008

http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2008/Jan/19/ln/hawaii801190361.html

Approximately 2,000 former Navy homes at Iroquois Point and Barbers Point are being made available to military personnel and civilians as part of an $80 million land sale and lease that also involves millions being spent for refurbishment of the base housing.

(This land was later resold for approximately $300 Million...)


http://ewafield.blogspot.com/

http://barbers-point.blogspot.com/

http://ewabattlefield.blogspot.com/

http://ewa-battlefield-nomination.blogspot.com/

https://www.facebook.com/Save-Ewa-Field-270728152937385/











 

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Location: Honolulu, HI, USA

Barbers Point - NAS Barbers Point, Today Called Kalaeloa

Barbers Point - NAS Barbers Point, Today Called Kalaeloa

by John Bond
I am not a Navy veteran, but as a military dependent in the 60's-70's, and later doing some photo-journalism projects in Ewa, I had the chance to see the former naval air station while it was still in operation.
The cover photo for this Barbers Point blog was chosen because it represents my own view of Barbers Point as a civilian and curious local historian of Ewa's history.
It was taken from a Navy diesel engine in the mid 1990's, which during the 1940's through 1960's had hauled ammunition and supplies around the Navy rail yards at places like Pearl Harbor, Lualualei and West Loch. By this point it was being operated by the Hawaiian Railway Society and the reason why I got to ride out front on the catwalk to get some nice pictures.
The photo is a nice memory for me of NAS Barbers Point, or "Barbers," as it was taken when the base was still a well kept and maintained naval air base, but slated for closure under a Federal process called BRAC (Base Realignment And Closure).
BRAC became, unfortunately, as ugly as the acronym sounds...
The train bell in the photo has great symbolism as the Navy uses bells in ceremonies to mark the change of commands and the passing of Navy comrades moving on to serve the "great commander in chief in Heaven" (probably no longer officially permitted to say this anymore...)
The Lockheed P-2 Neptune seen in the background was fortunately saved and taken over to the Kaneohe side and sits out front somewhere near the Marine air base front gate. The Navy now currently operates, for the past several decades, the four engine Lockheed P-3 Orion, (soon to be phased out) which can still be seen doing touch and go landings at what NASBP is now called- Kalaeloa Airport - John Rogers Field.
Today the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has their headquarters offices on the same location where the P-2 Neptune once reposed. They also have an indoor pistol range there as well as a detention area. The street name is still called Enterprise after the famous WW-II aircraft carrier CV-6 USS Enterprise.
But other things about NASBP and BRAC have not quite been so happy... more soon.
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Location: Honolulu, HI, USA
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