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By Dennis Oda, Star-Bulletin
The century-old Royal Brewery building housed a
community center until a strong chemical odor forced
its shutdown. This week another attempt is being
started to get rid of the smell.

Smelly senior center
gets a needed scrub

Workers try to eliminate
the odor that forced the center
to close in the old Royal
Brewery building

---

By Rosemarie Bernardo
Star-Bulletin

When Blossom Churchill took exercise classes at the Kakaako Senior and Community Center in the historic Royal Brewery building, she got watery eyes and a runny nose.

"I felt my discomfort was due to the odor," said Churchill, 78, a resident of Honuakaha. "I could not remain in the building for too long."

The odor came from a chemical treatment, Permaclear 65, used to saturate wood materials during the renovation of the building as a protectant against termites.

The building was closed two years ago after unsuccessful efforts to stop the smell.

This week, commercial workers will begin scrubbing the 100-year-old building on Queen Street in a new effort to get rid of the odor that caused dizziness, headaches and nausea for some senior members.

Stella Wong, executive director for Catholic Charities for the Elderly, which ran the center on the first three floors of the building, said the building had a smell from the day they opened. Wong thought the odor eventually would dissipate, but it never did.

"It was overwhelming in the morning, especially on Mondays because it was closed all weekend," she said.

"We're trying everything we can," said Chris Smith of CJS Group Architects Ltd., who is heading the cleanup, which is expected to last through mid-October.

Jan Yokota, executive director of the Hawaii Community Development Authority, said, "For the cleaning of walls and exposed surfaces, only basic soaps and water will be used.

"The plan is to avoid the application of any new chemicals to surfaces, especially ammonias."

Tom Buchanan, resident manager of Honuakaha, the apartment complex next to the brewery building, said, "It's not as strong as before. But there still is an odor."

The center reopened in 1996 after a $2.8 million renovation. Efforts to get rid of the smell began in April 1997 with the removal of flooring materials and windows to ventilate the building, which is listed on the state and national Registers of Historic Buildings.

More than 100 senior citizens participated in activities at the center that included line dancing, arts and crafts, ukulele lessons and tai chi.

When they found out the center was closing, they were upset, Wong said. "I still get calls from seniors (asking) why the center's not reopened," he said.

Nuuanu resident Rose Gromo, 78, took Filipino dance classes once a week at the center.

"I didn't see anything wrong with the building," said Gromo, who was disappointed when the center closed. "We were all sorry it closed so suddenly."

After the cleanup, the state will see if it's ready for reopening, said Yokota.