Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 32, Number 5, 1 May 2015 — Repairs underway along perimeter of palace grounds [ARTICLE]

Repairs underway along perimeter of palace grounds

The entrance gates, ironwork fence and plastered wall surrounding the grounds of 'Iolani Palaee

will be improved during a $ 1 .5 million repair and restoration project expected to last to January 2016. Rust and paint will be removed from the fence and gates, whieh will undergo hot-dip galvanizing and repainting. Sections of the fence and gates will be incrementally removed off site, and temporary barriers will be installed to secure the grounds. The ironwork fence and brick wall enclosing the Royal Tomb Site on the grounds will also be improved. 'Iolani Palaee and its grounds will remain open to the public during the project, said the Department of Land and Natural Resources' State Parks Division. Some entrances and adjacent sidewalks will be temporarily closed as work is done in

those areas. Work also includes fabricating and installing missing and broken ironwork components of the fence, welding where needed and plastering cracked or chipped portions of the wall and wall eap. A portion of the mauka-'Ewa perimeter wall will be rebuilt because it is tilting inward toward the grounds. Kaikor Construction Co. Ine. is the project contractor. Mason Architects Ine. prepared the project plans and specifications and will oversee the project's historic preservation aspects. "The ironwork fence was installed in 1892 after the 8-foot high wall that originally surrounded the palaee grounds was reduced in height to increase visibility fromthe

grounds," says DLNR. "The fence was mounted on the lowered and capped wall. The protective fence enclosing the Royal Tomb Site was installed in the early 1930s as part of a larger landscaping effort. . . . The Hawaiian royalty were laid to rest in this mausoleum from 1825 to 1865 after whieh most were removed to the newly constructed Royal Mausoleum at Mauna 'Ala in Nu'uanu." 'Iolani Palaee and it grounds, including the perimeter fence and Royal Tomb Site, is designated a National Historic Landmark and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Hawai'i Capitol Historic District.