Nonprofit organization Lahaina Restoration Foundation continues to keep the historic memory of Maui's cherished Lahaina town alive
KaiAloha Supply is proud to support and donate to Lahaina Restoration Foundation's mission to be stewards and storytellers of Lahaina’s Historic & Cultural Heritage. They are a nonprofit organization whose restoration efforts have continued for over 60 years. Their team is experienced in restoring sites over time and since the Lahaina fires, they have been actively working towards preserving the memorabilia that survived the flames.
"Thank you all so much for your kind donation. Your contribution will go towards our Artifact Recovery Program- we have some team members sifting through the ashes from the Lahaina fires to find historical artifacts that survived," development director for Lahaina Restoration Foundation, Ryan Morales said.
Lahaina Restoration Foundation manages a few properties for the county and other organizations, but they still need to pull permits for their work. At this time, their team is focused on restoring and rebuilding sites such as the Baldwin Home Museum and Master's Reading Room. These two buildings were part of the historical district on Front Street and unfortunately were part of the fire. Morales shares that the main reasons why these properties are currently being prioritized is because of structure and permission purposes-- the museum needs stabilization sooner than later because of its weak structure. As for the reading room, their team has the permit to work on it right away without needing too much consultation from other officials.
This is the exterior of the Baldwin Home Museum post fire. The house was built utilizing lintel and wooden support beams placed over the windows and doors. Today, it's just free standing rocks. Lahaina Restoration Foundation is working to stabilize the structure to save the current walls, so that they can use them when they are able to rebuild. (Photo courtesy of Lahaina Restoration Foundation)
Their artifact recovery team looks for items such as metal, stone, glass, and other objects that survived the heat of the fire. By knowing the layout of their site, they are better able to determine what pieces are a part of the museum's inventory.
The artifacts above are a variety of ceramic and metal objects recovered from the Wo Hing Museum site. (Photo courtesy of Lahaina Restoration Foundation)
Morales shares that they want the general public to know their team is taking baby steps towards each project to restore and rebuild. "It's not going to happen overnight, but we will consistently move forward in the right direction with the support of our community," he said.
