Natatorium facade won't be torn down

Contrary to the statement your Dec. 5 editorial makes, Mayor-elect Mufi Hannemann will not "tear down" the Waikiki War Memorial at Kaimana Beach. The Kaimana Beach Coalition's plan, which Hannemann endorses, will keep the beautiful Beaux Arts facade intact. It is the pool and bleacher structures, already so badly decayed and forever unusable, which will be removed. This will make more beach available. The facade will serve as the entrance to the beach park.

Spending more than $6 million more to "stabilize" a structure that will never be used is an unwise use of city monies that might well be used to better effect elsewhere.

"Respect for our past and gratitude to our soldiers" will be fully in evidence with the beauty of the facade, as well as the plaque opposite it, kept for all to see.

Preserve the arch, restore the beach

After seeing the city pour money and time into the Waikiki War Memorial Natatorium, and seeing little result, I have lost any hope that the city can deal with the situation. Is the city so overwhelmed with money that it must throw money into this bottomless pit? Is the taxpayer so eager to be taxed that we must tax for the natatorium again and again? The time has come to go in another direction, and ask what we now want.

What I usually hear is that we should preserve the arch. If not, another memorial for the World War I veterans should be created at the site. But in the main, the area should be cleared as much as possible to create a beach. A beach is what we want there. We do not need a constant stream of construction projects there -- hailed with great fanfare by politicians -- only to fall into disrepair, a sort of monstrosity by the sea. The budget is tight, and some taxpayers could use tax relief, so let's do a minimal amount at the natatorium, such as preserving the arch. And restoring the beach there would be very nice.

Replace structure with new monument

I have a suggestion regarding the natatorium. The building is old and probably rotten through and through and is really not worth repairing. As far as I know, it has not been used by the public for many years -- it just sits there, gradually rotting away.

Why not raze the structure, clean up the site to park-like standards and erect a very nice monument -- a memorial to the World War I veterans to whom the natatorium is dedicated. It could be a user-friendly fountain with a wading pool or some other thing which would be attractive to visitors to the park, something that the public could use and which would make them happy that it is there.

Who's really leading the United States?

Now that the dust is settling after our national elections and a record number of Cabinet members have resigned (voluntarily or otherwise); the face of the new Bush administration is coming into focus.

For the next four years we will be led by Dick Cheney (de facto president of the United States of America), Donald Rumsfeld (de facto vice president), George W. Bush (official spokesperson for the White House) and Condoleezza Rice (the token minority "yes" person).

May the Good Lord help us, since no one else can!

Kahoolawe would be ideal prison-landfill

I am glad to see others like Jeff Bigler (Letters, Dec. 1) acknowledging that Kahoolawe would be an ideal location for waste disposal, as well as a site for a correction facility that could possibly be an asset to the state's economy.

In my letter of Dec. 11, 2003, I suggested building a maximum security correctional facility on Kahoolawe, and was met with opposition by many who prefer a cultural reserve.

Once a penal colony, only a small area need be designated. Not just a prison camp but a self-sufficient, high-tech facility complete with renewable energy and water purification systems. The inmates could provide the workforce for the revegetation, recycling and waste disposal projects, and incarceration could promote deterrence and discourage repeat offenses. Revenues generated can fund island improvements, including restoring our native historical sites.

No one wants a landfill in their backyard. The same goes for prisons. Kahoolawe has the potential to really serve all our people as the true eighth major Hawaiian island.