Honolulu’s longest-running preservation saga has taken yet another turn. After months of renewed optimism that the Waikiki Natatorium War Memorial would finally be restored, Mayor Rick Blangiardi this week all but declared the dream dead.
“It’s a long shot,” he said, citing ballooning costs now estimated between fifty and one hundred million dollars. He admitted that he once hoped for restoration, but he cannot see a viable way forward. City Council Chair Tommy Waters echoed the sentiment, warning that protecting Kaimana Beach and its seawall is the city’s immediate priority.
For many residents and visitors, the Natatorium has long symbolized the city’s inability to follow through on its promises. The archway still stands in solemn beauty at the edge of Waikiki, but behind it sits a pool overtaken by algae and broken concrete.
From hope to retreat in just months.
The reversal is striking. Only in June, when we last wrote about the Waikiki Natatorium, officials were still discussing a functional Natatorium, with a projected cost of thirty to thirty-five million dollars and fundraising support from the Friends of the Natatorium. That news coincided with the push to restore the landmark in time for its centennial in 2027. Optimism spread, with many hopeful that decades of false starts might finally give way to action…