Hawaii State Capitol
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Hawaiʻi State Capitol is the official statehouse or capitol building of Hawaiʻi in the United States. From its chambers, the executive and legislative branches administer their duties in the governance of the state. The Hawaiʻi State Legislature—composed of the twenty-five member Hawaiʻi State Senate led by the President of the Senate and the fifty-one member Hawaiʻi State House of Representatives led by the Speaker of the House—convenes in the building. Its principal tenants are the Governor of Hawaiʻi and Lieutenant Governor of Hawaiʻi, as well as all legislative offices.
Located in downtown Honolulu, the Hawaiʻi State Capitol was commissioned and dedicated by John A. Burns, second Governor of Hawaiʻi. It opened on March 15, 1969 and replaced the former statehouse, ʻIolani Palace.
[edit] Monuments
Burns designed the restoration of the royal palace built by King David Kalākaua and Queen Consort Kapiʻolani; as part of that effort, the Queen Liliʻuokalani Statue in the Capitol Mall between the capitol building and ʻIolani Palace was dedicated on April 10, 1982.
Several other capitol building monuments decorate the statehouse grounds. The Beretania Street entrance features the Liberty Bell, a gift of the President of the United States and the United States Congress to the Territory of Hawaiʻi in 1950 as a symbol of freedom and democracy. The most prominent monument on the statehouse grounds is the Father Damien Statue—a tribute to the Hawaiʻi Catholic Church priest who died in 1869 after sixteen years of serving patients afflicted with leprosy. Father Damien was beatified towards canonization into sainthood by Pope John Paul II in 1995. Along with Mother Marianne Cope, Father Damien is expected to become one of the first Saints of the Roman Catholic Church from Hawaiʻi.
Two monuments honor members of the armed forces from Hawaiʻi. The Eternal Flame on Beretania Street is a metal sculptured torch that burns endlessly as a tribute to all men and women from Hawaiʻi who served in the Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marines and Navy in all the major and minor conflicts in which the United States was engaged. Likewise, the Korean Vietnam War Memorial pays tribute to the fallen service members that participated in those conflicts. Dedicated on July 24, 1994 by Benjamin J. Cayetano, fifth Governor of Hawaiʻi, the monument consists of 768 black marble pedestals engraved with the names of 454 service members of the Korean War and 312 service members of the Vietnam Conflict. A larger marble slab bears a Hawaiian language inscription of remembrance.
[edit] Architecture
The Hawaiʻi State Capitol is an American adaptation of the Bauhaus style called Hawaiian international architecture. It was designed by a partnership between the firms of Belt, Lemon and Lo and John Carl Warnecke and Associates. Unlike other state capitols modeled after the United States Capitol, the Hawaiʻi State Capitol's distinct architectural features symbolize various natural aspects of Hawaiʻi. Among them:
- The building is surrounded by a reflecting pool, symbolizing the Pacific Ocean.
- The two legislative chambers are cone-shaped, symbolizing volcanoes that formed the Hawaiian Islands.
- The columns around the perimeter of the building have shapes resembling coconut trees.
- The Capitol is built in an open-air design, allowing sun, wind, and rain to enter; the central rotunda opens to the sky.
[edit] External links
- Hawaiʻi State Capitol Brochure (PDF)
- About the Hawaiʻi State Capitol
- Description of Hawaiʻi State Capitol from CUPOLA
- Maps and aerial photos
- Street map from Google Maps or Yahoo! Maps
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
- Satellite image from Google Maps or Microsoft Virtual Earth
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