North Shore Chamber of Commerce celebrates the grand opening of its new home

NORTH SHORE—After four years of hard work, the North Shore Chamber of Commerce (NSCC) will celebrate their grand opening tonight, Friday, June 18 with an installation dinner at their new home in Haleiwa. The plantation style house, which is now the permanent home to the NSCC, had been moved through town from its original location behind Ace Hardware after an arduous process due to its designation as a historical structure.

“This house had been occupied by the manager of Mutual Telephone Company, the pre-cursor to Hawaiian Tel,” said NSCC executive director Antya Miller as she looked around the home’s spacious living room with a mixed look of pride and satisfaction knowing the journey was almost over.

Miller said she learned the historic home was available through an email she received from the State Historic Preservation Division (SHPD). The home is one of 34 buildings the SHPD has designated as a “historic structure,” requiring a special permit through the SHPD for any modifications made to the buildings.

Miller immediately sought to have the building donated to the NSCC, later obtaining a $20,000 donation from the Atherton Family Foundation.

“We used $17,000 of it just to move the building through town. It was a pretty cumbersome process because of the special district designation protecting any changes to the buildings,” she explained. “We continued to raise finances to finish it. The scope kept changing, we ended up putting in oak floors to keep it reminiscent of the period. A linoleum floor didn’t fit the time period.”

Although it was moved to its permanent location on the west side of the Waialua Community Association building in June 2008, the NSCC received the building permits to work on the home in August 2009 after cutting through the legal red tape Miller said.

Volunteers, donors, and Haleiwa residents all contributed time and resources to reconstruct the batten and board style home, a process Miller says taught her a lot about architecture; noting the vernacular structure and explaining that unlike modern homes, plantation homes were built for the Hawaii climate.

“The design keeps it cool and eliminates the need for air conditioning,” Miller said.

Earlier in the week, volunteers and NSCC members were still working on the building, fine tuning it for the grand opening. Trish, a North Shore resident and NSCC volunteer said: “To see the whole process come to an end is really exciting. I remember when the house was sitting in the middle of Haleiwa half way here. Now we’re almost done but there is still a lot to do.”

Approximately 60 sponsors and donors ranging from local surf shops to Monsanto and Kamehameha Schools contributed to the process of moving and remodeling the house.

“The dinner will celebrate our permanent home, but we will mainly be honoring the volunteers that helped put things together,” Miller said.

The night will feature pupus and no-host cocktails in the Chamber Building followed by dinner in the gym. Attendees will also celebrate the installation of the chamber’s new board of directors.

“Our main focus is to provide information for visitors who want to know what to see and do. We also support business, provide information, and refer people to member businesses,” Miller explained.

Looking back on the four year process, Miller said: “Most importantly, we saved a piece of Haleiwa and North Shore heritage.

The NSCC was formed in 1981. The chamber is known also as Haleiwa Main Street. The NSCC’s mission is to promote, maintain, and encourage the historic, cultural, civic, and economic welfare of the North Shore district through research, education, and advocacy. A private non-profit corporation, the NSCC has completed several projects including negotiating the bypass design in 1995, raising money to restore the Waialua Courthouse, campaigning to repair and repaint the bridge in 1993, and raising to install the three surfer Haleiwa Town signs on the bypass.

For more information, visit gonorthshore.org.

The North Shore Chamber of Commerce
New Chamber Building Grand Opening
Friday, June 18 from 5:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
66-434 Kamehameha Highway
Haleiwa, HI 96712