In front of the forest fire on August 8, 2023 in Lahaina, Theo Morrison made himself habit of walking along Frontstrasse and looking into the shops, museums and harbor to see what happened in the city.
Now her memories of Lahaina Town and the work that she examined as executive director of the Lahaina Restoration Foundation will be an essential component during the 40 million dollar efforts by the non -profit organization, eight historical sites in the fire.
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Last week, the foundation announced its master plan to restore the historical sites: the old courthouse of Lahaina, the Seelmenkrankenhaus, the Baldwin House, the Master reading room, the Hale Aloha, the old prison of Lahaina/Hale Pa'ahao, the plantation house and the kindergarten building.
“The idea is to bring it back as far as possible,” said Morrison of the Hawaii journalism initiative. “We know that it is not absolutely possible, but as much as possible to what it was before.”
It is a big challenge. The eight locations are under different physical conditions. With limited employees and resources, they cannot all be converted at the same time. The foundation also deals with a donor pool of “tense supporters of Lahaina Town”, which have already been part of a massive expression in the past two years, the plan says.
The foundation plans to tackle the reconstruction in three phases:
- Phase I: Stabilization of the Baldwin House, which was gutted by the fire, but still has walls. This phase began in July this year.
- Phase II: Studies such as archaeological surveillance, topographical surveys and other works that have to be carried out before reconstruction of the structures. The aim is to maintain designs and allow the most buildings and to find a preliminary use for the old Lahaina prison point, which has even open space and a portable toilet.
- Phase III: Baldwin Home, Master reading room and kindergarten building as a project or construct in a close order. This is followed by the construction of the court building, the prison and the Hale Aloha, in this order. Phase III would be concluded with the design and construction of the sailing hospital and the plantation house.
The Baldwin house, which is located on the Mauka page of the Front Street opposite the library and several shops, is expected to be converted as quickly as possible. The fire in 2023 disappointed the building and only left the stone wall walls, which were created with wooden beams and were kept on a road to the most outstanding sights in which almost anything was destroyed.
The Baldwin house is the oldest remaining house on Maui. It was built by Rev. Ephraim Spaulding from 1834 to 1835 to serve as a “mission mass” according to the master plan. The house was distributed to the foundation in 1961 and became a museum. The restoration is expected to cost 5.4 million US dollars and end 2028.
The 33,307 square meter location, where the Baldwin house is located, also includes the reading room of the master next door, which was built in the 1830s as a place to visit Marinern to read and family of the ship officials to visit the missionaries. The stone walls of the reading room are still standing and also had to be stabilized. The restoration will be expected to cost 3 million US dollars, the conclusion for 2031 is set.
The property also contained the kindergarten building. It is unclear when the building was built, but it was used as a school for years before it was transferred to the foundation in 1961. It was the first office of the foundation before it became an art gallery. The fire has completely destroyed the wooden building, and the construction is expected to cost $ 3.2 million and end $ 2031.
The most expensive of the buildings, which is to be restored, is Hale Aloha, a 16,847 square meter terrain that is intended to cost $ 7.5 million. The municipality of Waine'e Church built the “House of Love” in 1855-58 by Rev. Dr. Dwight Baldwin's vaccination and quarantine efforts to remember that saved Maui from the small epidemic. Over the years it was used by the Lahaina Union School and the Waine'e Church.
Maui County acquired it and partially restored it in 1973, and further restoration followed in the 1980s. Before the fire, the location served as a place for community meetings, Keiki camps, practical history, storage and curators for collections.
The fire in 2023 discovered the two -story building, destroyed the bell tower and the toilet and only left the concrete block -reinforced stone masonry. Construction on the site is expected to begin in 2029 and end in 2030.
The second most common project is the restoration of the old court building Lahaina, which was gutted by the fire, but still retains its plastered masonry walls.
The courthouse was built after 1859 to 1860 and commissioned by the Hawaiian kingdom, and, according to the master plan, served as a customs house for whaling and merchant ships as well as the center for government offices and court functions. It served as a courthouse, prison, police station and other government functions until 1970. In 1988 it was rented and renovated to the foundation.
The 9,000 square meter building, which comprises a basement and two stories next to the famous Banyan tree, will probably cost $ 7.1 million, whereby construction work will begin in 2028 and end in 2029.
The plan provides for the converted courthouse as a “revitalized hub for the community” with uses, including a museum for the history of Lahaina, a visitor center, a space for educational activities, event support, foundation offices and the Lahaina Arts Society Gallery in the former postal room on the first floor.
Costs and schedules for the other buildings are as follows:
- Old Lao Lies / prison / price: 5 USD Miconon, Commergs in 2030
- Sailow hospital: 4.4 million US dollars, completion in 2032
- Plantagenhaus, 1.7 million US dollars, completion in 2032
The foundation observes a mixture of funds to promote the costly restoration, including the financing of the emergency management agency, a grant of Maui County, insurance distributions and the money that you can expect as part of the 4 -billion dollars. Like most people in the lawsuit, the foundation is not sure how much it will get, but Morrison said they had a “great standards” because so many of their buildings were affected by the fire.
Five of the buildings were deployed before the fire in the public museum -the court room of the court building, the prison, Hale Aloha, Baldwin and Masters reading room -so that they are justified for the financing of public support for Fema support. The foundation must first spend the money on covering 90% of the reconstruction costs with the chance for the agency. The money must be spent until August 2027, although this could be extended.
Another advantage for the courthouse, the prison and Hale Aloha is that they were owned by Maui County, and the restoration office has already made 1.8 million US dollars available for the 2026 financial year to start the draft and approval process.
The Seelmenkrankenhaus, the plantation house and the kindergarten building were not used in museums and therefore have no Fema financing. The hospital and the plantation house are listed as the lowest priorities of the plan, since it will probably include a longer fundraising campaign.
Morrison said the foundation had applied for a National Park Service scholarship of around 4 million US dollars, which would cover the costs for the hospital that was commissioned by King Kamehameha III in the 1830s and used as an inn before the US government began for sick and injured soldiers in 1844.
They also plan additional fundraising events, including their annual fundraising campaign with the old Lāhainā Lūʻau in May.
The foundation plans to find permits soon, but Morrison said that the temporary lines in the master plan are the best assumptions, depending on the challenges they face.
“We just have to start and then encounter the problems when we encounter the problems,” she said.
The privately financed master plan of around 300,000 US dollars created by AECOM Technical Services and Mason Architects offers a clear direction and costs for the non -profit organization.
“Getting this plan was really great because we now know where to go,” said Morrison. “It's very solid.”
She pointed out that most people from Lahaina want to see that the city was as it was, and for the historic buildings it is still an imperative. The plan is to keep the historical facades of the buildings and other important features of the buildings.
Twelve years before the fire, the American Planning Association called the Front Street on one of 10 large streets of 2011, an award that was supposed to honor the places of exceptional characters.
“It's multimodal. It's slow. It has great views,” said Morrison. “You have all the shops right there, the bicycles and the cars just go together. … it is like the epitome of a great road.”
But she added: “What we lost are the things that make a city a city, such as school, the library, the post.” They were the kind of characteristics “that normal people come to the city to use them.”
“Some things you can dismantle and some things you will never have as it was,” she admitted.
Last week the district published design options for the reconstruction of the Front Street, which included plans for storing the road as two lanes. The decision was of crucial importance for both companies and for the Lahaina Restoration Foundation to advance it.
Morrison said that if the county had decided to expand the street, the foundation would have to make adjustments, e.g. B. the stone wall in front of the Baldwin house and “there are all sorts of problems with it”.
Companies and historical buildings lasted the longest after the fire, and historical sites were particularly a challenge because the crews tried to save what they could build from the aging. According to the recovery dashboard, six historical structures were attacked and awarded during the clean-up work of commercial and public real estate.
Morrison, who moved to Wailuku after the destruction of the foundation and the neighborhood was burned around her constant home, is only pleased to finally start planning the reconstruction of the historical sites. She said she had the feeling that the county “do the best” to promote the reconstruction process, “but you have to see that it is a new area for everyone for everyone.”
“I've never been to this kind of tragedy, so … I don't know what is normal.”