Aliiolani Hale: Encyclopedia - Aliiolani Hale

Aliiolani Hale

Aliʻiolani Hale is a building located in downtown Honolulu, Hawaii, currently used as the home of the Hawaii State Supreme Court. It is the former seat of government of the Kingdom of Hawaii and the Republic of Hawaii.

Located in the building's courtyard is the famed gold-leaf statue of Kamehameha the Great.

Aliiolani Hale - Establishment and monarchy period

Ali'iolani Hale was originally designed in a Renaissance revival style as the royal palace for King Kamehameha V. In the Hawaiian language, Aliʻi-o-lani Hale means "House of the heavenly King"; also, the name "Aliʻiolani" was one of the given names of Kamehameha V.

Although the building was designed to be a palace, Kamehameha V realized that the Hawaiian government desperately needed a government building. At that time, the several buildings in Honolulu used by the government were very small and cramped, clearly inadequate for the growing Hawaiian government. Thus, when Kamehameha V ordered construction of Aliʻiolani Hale, he commissioned it as a government office building instead of a palace.

Kamehameha V laid the cornerstone for the building on February 19, 1872. He passed away before the building was completed, and it was dedicated in 1874 by one of his successors, King David Kalakaua. At the time, Hawaiian media criticized the building's extravagant design, suggesting that the building be converted into a palace as originally designed.

Until 1893, the building held most of the executive departments of the Hawaiian government as well as the Hawaiian legislature and courts.

Aliiolani Hale - Overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy

It was from Aliʻiolani Hale in 1893 that the Committee of Safety, under the leadership of Lorrin A. Thurston, deposed Queen Liliʻuokalani by public proclamation and the United States Marine Corps was ordered to forcibly remove the reigning queen. A 1993 resolution passed by Congress and signed by President of the United States Bill Clinton declared the use of American military force in 1893 illegal.

After the establishment of the Hawaiian provisional government in 1893 and the Republic of Hawaiʻi in 1894, some of the offices in Aliʻiolani Hale were moved to ʻIolani Palace, including the Hawaiian legislature. As a result, Aliʻiolani Hale became primarily a judicial building.

Aliiolani Hale - Ali'iolani Hale since 1900

The growing size of Hawaiʻi's government continued to be a problem for the building, however, especially after Hawaiʻi became a United States territory in 1900. In 1911, the building was extensively renovated to help solve these space problems. The entire interior of the building was demolished and rebuilt, giving the building's interior a completely new look, including a new floorplan which had been based on the assumption that Aliʻiolani Hale was to have functioned as a palace rather than an office and court building.

The size of the territorial government continued to grow. In the 1940s, a new wing was added to the building to help alleviate expanding needs for space. The architects who designed the new wing tried to blend it in with the original building that dated from the 1870's.

Over the next many decades, most of the state judiciary functions moved out of Aliʻiolani Hale to various other buildings around the state. Today, the building houses the Hawaii State Supreme Court and the administrative center of the Hawaiʻi State judiciary. It also houses the Judiciary History Center, a museum featuring a multimedia presentation of Hawaiʻi's judiciary, a restored historic courtroom, and other exhibits dealing with Hawaiʻi's judicial history. The building houses Hawaiʻi's largest law library.

In December 2005, the U.S. military's Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command used radar equipment to locate a time capsule buried by Kamehameha V at the building site on February 19, 1872. According to records from the time, the capsule contains photos of the royal family, Hawaiian coins and postage stamps, the constitution of the Hawaiian Kingdom, local newspapers, and books, such as a Hawaiian language dictionary. But despite the radar discovery, the time capsule was not disturbed, in part because digging it up would harm the building's structural integrity.

Aliʻiolani Hale is one of many buildings in downtown Honolulu listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Within walking distance are the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace, Hawaiʻi State Capitol, Hawaiʻi State Library, Honolulu Hale, ʻIolani Palace, Kawaiahaʻo Church, Territorial Building, and Washington Place.

Aliiolani Hale - Trivia

• When Kamehameha V laid the cornerstone, a time capsule was buried there. It contains Hawaiian postage stamps, 21 Hawaiian and foreign coins, 11 different local newspapers, the Hawaiian Kingdom constitution, a calendar and books, such as a Hawaiian language dictionary. It also contains photos of royal families.
• At first, the room immediately under the clocks was used as a studio for various artists hired by the Hawaiian government.
• Aliʻiolani Hale is built from concrete blocks, unlike nearby Kawaiahaʻo Church (1836) and ʻIolani Barracks (1870), each constructed of coral blocks.
• The building was built with four clocks in its tower, one facing each direction. For many decades now, however, the clocks have failed to keep accurate time, often off by many hours and off to varying degrees.

See also

• History of Hawaii

Aliiolani Hale - External link

• Hawaiian king's time capsule found, but will stay buried, a December 2005 Associated Press article (via CNN)

Categories: Hawaiian architecture | Museums in Hawaii | National Register of Historic Places

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Aliiolani Hale", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki