WHEREAS, the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act of 1920, as amended, provides for the rehabilitation of the Hawaiian people; and

WHEREAS, the property in the Paukukalo Hawaiian Homestead Community on Maui, known as the Armory, was vacated by the United States government because new federal government facilities were built in Kahului; and

WHEREAS, the property, consisting of 1.77 acres, is currently owned by the State of Hawaii and is located on the corner of Kuhio Place and Hea Street (TMK#2-3-3-6-54); and

WHEREAS, the State of Hawaii has not declared any intended future use for this property; and

WHEREAS, in this area, there are four Hawaiian homestead communities, Paukukalo, Waiehu Kou I, Waiehu Kou II, and Waiehu Kou III, with five hundred twenty-seven homes and an estimated two thousand one hundred residents; and

WHEREAS, a majority of these residents are either below the age of eighteen or over the age of sixty; and

WHEREAS, there is no facility within a five mile radius of these Hawaiian homestead communities with enough space to provide comprehensive programs and services for this homestead population; and

WHEREAS, there is a need for a facility that can house programs to educate and train residents for employment and economic enterprises, as well as provide physical fitness opportunities; and

WHEREAS, these economic, employment, education, and physical training opportunities exist elsewhere, but are not readily available to these homestead communities because of the lack of a facility; and

WHEREAS, the State Council of Hawaiian Homestead Associations, meeting in convention on August 18, 2005, at the California Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada, urged the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands to support the development and funding of a community swimming pool and a technologically advanced community center complex in the Paukukalo area; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2006, the Senate concurring, that the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands is urged to assist and partner with Hawaiian homestead community associations in securing funds and resources to build a community center complex designed to provide advanced technology education and to facilitate improved health fitness, including a swimming pool, within the Paukukalo community on Maui; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, the Chairperson of the Hawaiian Homes Commission, and the commissioners of the Hawaiian Homes Commission.

Report Title:

DHHL