Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1914-05-16
|HARBOR BOARD TO
|sETnEQuEsTl0l
Of Rail WAY SITE
Commission, at Meeting Tues.
day, to Devise Mays and
Means of Conde formation

Just what steps are to be taken to-
ward solving the problem concerning
| the condemnation of the Marine rail-.
way site, probably viii Be definitely,
decided upon at 3 a citing next Tues
day morning of q board Of harhoE
|e5mnissi sicners, acc6fding to state
ment made this ihorning by ]. w.
Caldwell, superintendent of public
works and chairman of the harbor
board. ssss. ss f' i. rs. @ Il. &
The harbor commissioners pro-
posed condemnation of the site now
occupied by the Marine railway has
resolved itself into a problem which
for many months past has engaged
ffAe attention of the members, the
trustees of the Bishop estate and the
attorney-generS1. In brief, the prop
osition is based on the desire of the
harbor board to purchase the site,
which is composed of four acres;
three OF which are kmakai of Alo Mo-
ana and the other to mauka of that
thoroughfare. The lease on the prop
Ierty is held by the harbor board,
which pays to the Bishop estate a
yearly rental of $780, The lease is
due to expire in II years. The har-
bord board, however, suD-leased the
property to the Inter,Isfand for a
yearly rental of $4,000. The makai
portion is used for the Marine rail-
way and the mauka portion for the
storage of lumber, etc. The lease
held BY the Inter-Island expires in
June Of this year. .,..~
II now is the idea of the harbor
board to buy the property following
the expiration of the Inter-Island's
lease, and use the, land for wharves.
According to federal law, all pro-
tuberanees beyond the harbor line
must be removed, which will mean
that the tracks of the Marine railway
will have to be dispensed with. When
asked to place price on the land,
the Bishop estate informed the har-
bord board that It would consider
$460,000 for the four acres a, fair re-
turn. Yesterday afternoon Commis-
| sioners James Wakefield T. NJ.
Church, C. ]. Mccarthy and ]. w.
Caldwell, chairman, called upon At
torney-general Stainback with a view
to coming to some conclusion as to
what steps should be taken toward
settling the matter The matter has
been deferred until the board meet
ing Tuesday. (
The harbor board considers $780,.
900 too high a price to pay for the
land" said Chairman Caldwell this
morning. 1T appears to me that the
Biship estate added one too many
ciphers to the figure. Aside from this
amount, the estate asks $4,000 dam
ages from the fact that the makai
portion of the site cuts into portion
of its land bordering Ala Manoa,
thereby leaving a small strip on
Punchbowl street. L do not believe
that the estate is entirely willing to
dispose of the makai portion The
commission intends to see what can
be done toward getting the land at a
lower figure" *$-*~s. i : 81 8
At the conference yesterday after
noon, it was the opinion of the COM
missioners that the site, should It be
secured, be used for the erection Of
a coal wharf. Chairman Caldwell,
however, expressed himself as being
topposed ito the plan. Caldwell said
that he believed the government
should own all property on the water
front. and all property thereto, and
that it should not be owned by pri-
yata individnals