After 3 years and $20 million we reopened Hawaiian Hall last weekend.
I think there about 7 separate "special" openings - for the staff, for families, for members, for major donors, for the media, for tourism industry types, and then last Saturday, the big one - everybody.
Kim's halau provided the lei and took part in the opening ceremonies of which I saw absolutely nada: too busy running around with a screwdriver / allen wrench / cell phone / worried look.
The inside is now climate controlled (read: it has AC now) and lighting is conservation department approved. Lots of modern works of art by native artists really brings the place alive. Plus now the famous whale has some friends to hang out with now.
Uncle Dano was in charge of dismantling and rebuilding the hale pili. Pretty much everybody in the extended family helped out in one way or another: carrying rocks, building the foundation, gathering pili, lashing posts, or just sitting around and providing moral support.
Here's some people learning about the hale by
playing interacting with my touchscreen kiosk. I actually changed some stuff about 3 hours into the opening day since I got to see people getting confused. Works better now. Come check it out....
