Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 5, Number 5, 1 May 1988 — Castle Hall Groundbreaking Held [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Castle Hall Groundbreaking Held

Bishop Museum held groundbreaking ceremonies Apr. 4 for its Harold Kainalu Long Castle Memorial Building, marking the first major addition to the Museum since its famous Hawaiian Hall was completed in 1903, a time span of 85 years. Architects Hawaii Ltd. designed the building and S&M Sakamoto ine. won the construction

contract with a low bid of $5.42 million. Completion of construction is scheduled for May 13, 1989, in time for the celebration of the Museum's 100th anniversary. The building is named after Harold K. L. Castle in recognition of the major funding contribution to the project by the Foundation whieh bears his name. The new hall will contain about 40,000 square feet of floor space on four floors and will be a multipurpose building. It will house public exhibition space, conservation laboratories and storage space for the museum's vast anthropology eolleetions. The new building will also nearly double the public exhibition space at the museum, and in line with modern museum design concepts, will allow for a mueh wider range of exhibition configurations than is possible in the old exhibition halls. "Castle Hall symbolizes the best of our past and our preparations for the museum's second century of service to Hawai'i and the Pacific," said Museum Director W. Donald Duckworth. Castle Hall will be connected to the main museum building by walkways on the ground and second floor levels, and in the future, the Castle Hall entrance will serve as the main public entrance to the Museum. Participating in the ceremonies along with Duckworth were Gerard Sakamoto, president of S&M Sakamoto ine.; Kenneth F. Brown, chairman of the Museum Board of Directors; Alfred Castle II; and James (Chris) Castle. The Rev. William Kaina of Kawaiaha'o Church blessed the site.

Breaking ground for the new Harold K. L. Castle Hall at Bishop Museum is Gerard Sakamoto, president of the winning contracting firm, S&M Sakamoto ine. Awaiting their turn from left to right are W. Donald Duckworth, Kenneth F. Brown, Alfred Castle II and James (Chris) Castle.