Lahaina Must Be Restored, Not Redone, and Hawaiians Need to Lead The Way

The warning bells are going off in Hawai’i, and around the world.

With the achingly beautiful town of Lahaina lying in smouldering ruins, locals and lovers of Maui and Hawai’i (such as me) are sounding the alarm about deep-pocket developers swooping in and grabbing gobs of property, and what that might mean in terms of over-development.

Surely the city and Maui county have rules in place that have kept hotel chains from building 10-storey towers on Lahaina’s Front Street. But can government officials insist that new structures reflect the character of the old Lahaina? Can they demand that weathered wood buildings be erected instead of acres of glass and cement and stainless steel? Is it even a good idea to have wooden buildings in a region as dry as Lahaina and parts of West Maui?

I don’t know the answers, but I do know a lot of people share  my belief that as much of the old Lahaina as possible needs to be restored. I hope they’ll rebuild the historic Baldwin House on Front Street, which has home to one of the original missionary families that came to Maui to convert natives to Christianity and built around 1834. I don’t agree with their cause, and I’m sure some Hawaiians would prefer the city not honour the missionaries by replacing the home, but I’ve always thought it was a stately thing to behold and an important part of the town’s history. It would be great if they could add some kind of Hawaiian cultural centre next door, with large displays that honour the amazing culture of the people who lived here for centuries, and still do.

Wo Hing Temple Museum, Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii before the fires. JIM BYERS PHOTO

I also hope someone will help rebuild the lovely Wo Hing Temple Museum on Front Street, which told the sometimes terrifying story of Chinese immigrants to Maui and Hawai’i. The artifacts are almost certainly gone, which is a tragedy, but hopefully the temple will be rebuilt.

(As a side note, there used to be a small cookhouse alongside the temple where they showed old films of Hawaiian life, including footage shot around 1898 by none other than Thomas Edison. I hope a wise person kept copies, because that film is priceless.)

It’s a small blessing, but I saw the other day that somehow the fire didn’t destroy Maria Lanakila Catholic Church, which dates back to 1873 (and which means it turned 150 years old this year). I’ve been there several times on Christmas and Easter, and it was truly joyous. The music was simply sensational, and to see the little kids all dressed up was a huge treat. It’s possible there was extensive damage to the roof, but the walls appear almost untouched in the photos I’ve seen.

Nobody seems to know for sure about Lahaina’s majestic banyan tree, said to be the second biggest in the world. The tree is still standing but was badly blackened by the fires. Whether it survives is something we may not know for weeks or months. The tree also dates back to 1873 and takes up an entire acre on Front Street.

The tree is not important compared to the loss of human life, of course, but it’s a treasured symbol of the town.

The historic Banyan Tree in Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii. JIM BYERS PHOTO

I mentioned on social media the other day that Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his fiance have donated $100 million to help Maui and Lahaina rebuild. That’s amazing, and we can only hope that the likes of Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg and Larry Ellison (who owns almost all of the nearby island of Lana’i and has done amazing things to preserve the island and boost its people) will also step up. Gates married his former wife, Melinda, on Lana’i, while Zuckerberg has been buying up large portions of the island of Kaua’i, which no doubt is why some Lahaina lovers worry about the town’s future.

Mick Fleetwood of Fleetwood Mac fame has lived on Maui for many years and operated a restaurant in Lahaina called Fleetwood’s on Front, which was destroyed in the fire. He did an interview a couple days ago and issued a warning about developers profiting from the disaster.

“The thought of it (Lahaina) becoming some form of playground with no reference to the dignity of that town, to me, would be abhorrent,” he said.

I couldn’t agree more. But it can’t be people like me that make decisions about Lahaina or Maui. It has to be locals, and that must include a majority of native Hawaiians, or people with native Hawaiian blood.

These islands have been used and abused (as a tourist I’m surely guilty on some counts) for too many years by outsiders. This is an historic opportunity to let the locals decide how to move forward. 

In a story at Honolulu Civil Beat, Governor Josh Green said he won’t let out-of-state buyers exploit land in devastated Lahaina for development at the expense of the local community.

“I’ve actually reached out to our attorney general to explore options to do a moratorium on any sales of properties that have been damaged or destroyed,” Green said at a press conference.

On a related note, I published an item yesterday to say Maui is strongly discouraging visitors from coming to West Maui in the near future. I also wrote an ode to Lahaina and Maui last week, with a link on where to donate.