3 Aloha Tower4Hawaii MaritimeCenterThe Aloha Tower is a retiredlighthous e that is consideredone of the landmarks of thestate of Hawaii in the UnitedStates. Opened on September11, 1926, at a then astronomicalcost of $160,000, the AlohaTower is located at Pier 9of Honolulu Harbor. It hasbeen, and continues tobe, a guiding beacon welcomingvessels to the Cityand County of Honolulu.Just as the Statue of Libertygreeted hundreds ofthousands of immigrantseach year to New York City,the Aloha Tower greetedhundreds of thousands ofimmigrants to Honolulu.At 10 stories and 184 feet(56 m) of height toppedwith 40 feet (12 m) of flagmast, for four decades theAloha Tower was the talleststructure in Hawaii. Itwas built in the HawaiianGothic architectural style.The Hawaii Maritime Center was the principal maritimemuseum in the State of Hawaii from 1988until it closed in 2009. Located at Pier 7 of HonoluluHarbor east of Aloha Tower, the center wasa campus of the Princess Bernice Pauahi BishopMuseum. The Hawaii Maritime Center was built onwhat once was the private boathouse of King DavidKalakaua and was home to the only four-masted,full-rigged ship in the world called the Falls ofClyde. The Falls of Clyde was built in 1878 for theoil industry and is a National Historic Landmark.Also docked at the Hawaii Maritime Center was thevoyaging canoe Hokulea, a scientific research vesselof great importance to native Hawaiian culture.Due to prevailing economic conditions, the Hawai’iMaritime Center was closed to the public effectiveMay 1, 2009. In December 2017, the Bishop Museumtransferred its lease between the MaritimeCenter and the State of Hawaii to a third party, andceased operating the Center. Plans for its futureare unknown.5Pearl HarborUSS Arizona MemorialThe USS Arizona Memorial, at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii,marks the resting place of 1,102 of the 1,177 sailors and Marineskilled on USS Arizona (BB-39) during the Japanese surprise attackon Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 and commemorates theevents of that day. The attack on Pearl Harbor and the island ofOʻahu led to the United States’ direct involvement in World War II.The memorial, built in 1962, is visited by more than two millionpeople annually. Accessible only by boat, it straddles the sunkenhull of the battleship without touching it. Historical informationabout the attack, shuttle boats to and from the memorial, andgeneral visitor services are available at the associated USS ArizonaMemorial Visitor Center, which opened in 1980 and is operated bythe National Park Service. The battleship’s sunken remains weredeclared a National Historic Landmark on May 5, 1989.The USS Arizona Memorial is one of several sites in Hawaii andelsewhere that are part of the World War II Valor in the PacificNational Monument.DesignThe national memorial was designed by Honolulu architectAlfred Preis who was detained at Sand Island at the start of thewar as an enemy of the country because of his Austrian birth. ]The United States Navy specified the memorial be in the form ofa bridge floating above the ship and accommodating 200 people.The 184-foot-long structure has two peaks ateach end connected by a sag in the center of thestructure. It represents the height of American pridebefore the war, the nation’s sudden depressionafter the attack and the rise of American power tonew heights after the war. Critics initially called thedesign a “squashed milk carton”The architecture of the USS Arizona Memorial isexplained by Preis as, “Wherein the structure sagsin the center but stands strong and vigorous at theends, expresses initial defeat and ultimate victory... The overall effect is one of serenity. Overtones ofsadness have been omitted to permit the individualto contemplate his own personal responses ... hisinnermost feelings.”FOR GREAT OFFERS AND FREEBIES IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD VISIT OURTOWNSDEALS.COM • ©2021 DISCOVER THE BEST OF MAGAZINE • OURTOWNSFINEST.COM • 818-573-5443
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