CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARBULLETIN.COM Rich Richardson, assistant director of the ARTS at Marks Garage, poses for a portrait at the art gallery's window.

Mayor envisions Chinatown
as arts, cultural center

Hannemann hopes the move will
boost the area’s economy

Chinatown holds special boyhood memories for Mayor Mufi Hannemann.

He watched movies at the Hawaii Theatre and King Theater.

His family ate Chinese food at Wo Fat restaurant.

And he bought his first clothes on his own from a shop there.

"It goes back to my hanabata days," he said in a recent interview.

Hannemann also has a love of the arts, which he hopes to marry with his desire to see Chinatown and the surrounding downtown Honolulu area become a destination for arts and culture on Oahu to boost economic benefits.

"I want to make Chinatown come alive in the evening," he said. "What I want to now do is bring in the arts community, make this truly the arts center. ... If you want arts and culture, that's where you go."

Residents and artists are excited about the possibilities.

"It shows that Chinatown is safe, that downtown is safe and that there are things to do," said Lynne Matusow, chairwoman of the Downtown Neighborhood Board.

"Having a vibrant arts-and-culture community will attract the type of workers that the economy will benefit from," said Rich Richardson, assistant director of the ARTS at Marks Garage. "If you have a bustling downtown district, you're going to have the type of workers that new businesses will need."

Chinatown already has several things going for it, making the neighborhood an attractive project for a new mayor:

» A historical designation

» A mix of ethnic backgrounds, including those of Chinese, Southeast Asian and other descents

» A variety of restaurants

» An active residential community

» Several longtime small businesses including lei shops and larger retail outlets

» The newly renovated Hawaii Theatre

» Nearly two dozen art galleries

» Several municipal parking lots

» A walkable neighborhood

» Zoning for loft housing

"I don't think this is a new idea per se. It's sort of been out there, but I see my job as sort of now embracing it ... connecting the dots and sort of make sure that this thing happens."

Hannemann would like to see the "First Friday" festival atmosphere -- the arts-and-culture open house at galleries, museums and studios on the first Friday of each month -- happen every night.

"I think what's been missing was a mayor that's going to pay attention to Chinatown the way the last mayor paid attention to Waikiki," Hannemann said.

He said he wants to create an environment where people leaving the theater could then go to a nearby restaurant for dinner and maybe drop in on an art gallery along the way. People looking for arts, culture, entertainment, dining and shopping will think of Chinatown in the same way as Ala Moana, Waikiki, Pearlridge and the Ward Entertainment area.

He foresees a scaled-down river walk experience with possibly outdoor cafes, or Kekaulike Mall becoming an upscale arts-and-crafts experience.

Hannemann said previous mayors, including Frank Fasi and Jeremy Harris, have left their mark on Chinatown, cleaning up the area and helping get rid of drug-dealing, prostitution, gambling and other crimes.

"People may think, 'Mufi's always taking Harris things down,' but here I'm actually going to build on it, make it better," he said.

Hannemann said that while Harris fixed up Chinatown, "I don't think he had the arts vision that I have. I think what Mayor Harris did was he paid attention to Chinatown, but it's more from the public safety, beautification standpoint."

But Hannemann has a tough balancing act: trying to achieve his vision using as little city money as possible so that people do not perceive it as an unnecessary "nice-to-have" project while trying to take care of roads and sewers.

"I think the fact if people misconstrue -- 'Here comes another Waikiki type of investment where the city is going to allocate a huge amount of dollars' -- I think we could lose valuable momentum in the beginning. I see that as an obstacle," he said, adding that partnerships need to be formed to make it happen. "If people perceive this as another major infusion of city tax dollars, it's going to be difficult to do."

He said another obstacle would be if people "don't understand or appreciate arts and culture, if they see it as a throwaway."

What the city can provide are the core services -- zoning, permitting, policing crime and other infrastructure needs, as it did with providing the zoning for loft housing, which Hannemann hopes will provide impetus to attracting higher-income residents who live and work downtown.

Richardson said another way the city could help would be to promote Chinatown to attract new residents and businesses while setting up protections to prevent displacing the characteristics that make Chinatown unique. "The worst thing that could happen is that some great little gallery coming in at the expense of one of the lei shops down here."

Matusow said the city could also help coordinate events so there won't be too many at once and burdening downtown residents with things such as closing too many streets for an event. "My bigger concern is that we need to know when there are major things that are going to conflict with other major things going on."

Hannemann's venture into the downtown arts scene began when he introduced a resolution as a city councilman in 1997 that created arts enterprise zones, providing seed money to give underutilized facilities a new persona. The concept evolved into the ARTS at Marks Garage -- a gallery, performance venue and office space for arts groups.

Hannemann credits his wife with coming up with the arts enterprise zone concept. Gail Mukaihata Hannemann is currently chairwoman of the board of the Hawaii Alliance for Arts Education.

The alliance -- with the backing of the city and Hannemann's personal lobbying before he became mayor -- recently was awarded a grant from the Ford Foundation of up to $400,000 over three years to bring more of the community into the arts experience.

Since the 2001 opening of the ARTS at Marks Garage and with events like First Friday, the arts community has blossomed in Chinatown, said Marilyn Cristofori, the alliance's executive director.

"It's helping to change the character of the neighborhood in a unique way," Cristofori said. "It's become the cool place to be, the cool thing to do."

Cristofori said the commitment of the mayor to Chinatown was key to the organization getting the grant.