Group fights A national historic preservation group has placed Pearl Harbor's Ford Island on its endangered list, putting pressure on the Navy to save several pre-World War II structures. The move comes as the Navy embarks on an ambitious plan to rebuild the island.
for Ford Island
The Navy wants to develop
the tiny island, but others
want the historic
structures savedBy Gregg K. Kakesako
gkakesako@starbulletin.comThe National Trust for Historic Preservation launched a major media campaign today, with stories planned for national cable television and magazines, and has even called on Hollywood to back its crusade to save these buildings and other evidence of the bombing and strafing by Japanese pilots six decades ago. It describes Ford Island as one of America's 11 most endangered historic places for 2001.
The Navy, however, maintains that the group's actions are premature since no final determination has been made about the eventual fate of the historic landmarks.
In 1964 most of Pearl Harbor, including Ford Island, was designated a National Historic Landmark by the secretary of the interior.
Although all of Pearl Harbor is listed as a national landmark, Lt. Cmdr. Jane Campbell, Navy spokeswoman, pointed out that it also is still "an active Navy base."
That was noted when Pearl Harbor was proposed as a historic site, Campbell said, adding that it also was noted that "Navy property would continue to evolve to support the Navy's missions and requirements and would be part of the telling of our nation's story and history."
Campbell said when three developers are chosen at the end of August to submit their concepts of what Ford Island should look like, they will be given guidelines surrounding the various historical structures.
Campbell said it will be up to the developers to show how they plan to incorporate these buildings into their versions of the master plan.
She pointed out as an example an $18 million Navy lodge that will be built on the north end of the island by renovating a World War II bachelor officers' quarters.
There is no guarantee, however, that all of the historic structures will be saved or renovated, Campbell said.
But Peter Brink, vice president for programs for the National Trust for Historic Preservation, said his group wants specific buildings and sites to be saved.
Brink's group wants to:
>> Retain the pre-World War II bungalows that now are the major family housing units on the 450-acre island. Included in that group is the home of the Pacific Fleet's submarine commander.
>> Keep Luke Field, the original runway that bisects the island, intact, and preserve the strafing marks left by Japanese planes 60 years ago when they bombed and torpedoed the Pacific Fleet on Dec. 7.
>> Save the hangars that line the runway.
Ford Island master plan schedule
Aug. 30: Select as many as three developers to prepare proposals.
Dec. 28: Deadline for selected developers to submit their master plans.
August 2002: Select a Ford Island master plan developer, and forward proposal to Congress.
November 2002: Award master development agreement.
Most of the bungalows -- some of which were featured in "In Harm's Way," the 1965 Otto Preminger-John Wayne movie on the Pacific war -- may be demolished to make way for the island's largest private-public joint venture.
Housing for 600 Navy families and bachelors' quarters for 1,000 sailors are planned where some of the bungalows now stand on the north side of the tiny island. The new housing units would cost around $250 million. The Navy would lease the land to the developer, who would build the units and receive the rent.
So far, money already has been appropriated for 180 family units under traditional financing means. These housing units will be built between Luke Field and the bungalows on the north side of the island.
The Ford Island Development project is a multimillion-dollar public/private development made possible through special federal legislation adopted by Congress in 1999.
The Navy hopes to offer private developers long-term lease rights to develop and operate commercial ventures on as much as 75 acres on the south side. Luke Field is supposed to become a park dividing the commercial side of the island from the housing area.
The developer of the $300 million project will not be selected before the end of next year; the project is expected to be completed near the end of the decade.
That is one of the problems foreseen by Brink, who said a master plan, which would ensure the preservation of these structures, should be completed before a developer is selected.
"The attack on Pearl Harbor was one of the watershed events of the 20th century," said Richard Moe, president of the National Trust. "Ford Island's history must be thoughtfully preserved for generations to come, not overrun by piecemeal development."
The Navy allowed Jerry Bruckheimer and Disney to turn Ford Island into a movie set last year, using as props the abandoned tower, Luke Field, hangars and other buildings.
Ford Island is named after Dr. Seth Porter Ford, a physician who owned the island in the mid-1800s.
The United States acquired the island in several parcels between 1906 and 1918. For a time the Army and the Navy shared the island as an aviation installation. By 1939 the Army completed its move to Hickam, and the Navy retained exclusive use. Pearl Harbor Naval Air Station at Luke Field was the headquarters of the commander of the Pacific Fleet Air Forces.
Luke Field was decommissioned in 1962.
The completion of the 4,672-foot-long Admiral Clarey Bridge in 1998 made the island accessible to visitors.