Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1917-09-28

tunity to display his goods.
Expert Opinion
Mrs. c. c. l.. Whitney OF San Fran
cisco, owner of the trade journal, Cal
ifornia Architect and Engineer, who
is spending several weeks in the is
lands, was much impressed with the
opportunities presented by ;nis city
for constructing new 3ty'e "f archi-
lecture distinctively Hawaiian. The
woman-editor, who is an authority on
architectural beauty, declared recent
Iy, to a Star-Bulletin representative,
that she thought the present style of
architecture in this city was too
"jumbIed'' to be attractive. But the
| improvements on Fort street, Gne de-
clared, are really worth while. There
| is a conformity of design which lends
| impressiveness to the thOroughfare,
and while each building is distinctive,
no single one stands out to over
shadow its neighbor.
The first step toward improving
Fort street was taken some months
ago when the building on the eva
makai corner of Fort and Hotel
streets was torn down. The workIlen
are still excavating there, hut very
shortly work will be started IN the
new structure. Gurrey's Art S:ore
will Occupy part of the ground floor
of the new building.
The Hollister Drug company, to-
gether with c. ]. Day. who handles
| an excellent line of groceries and
staple foods, will also occuily this new
In; Viii hn fhron
stories high. The new structure will
present the same general exterior ap-
| pearance as the other nuil1ingS along
F! Fort street, but will have some els
tinctive design in ornamentation. Next
to this building is the new home OF
ii. +. Wichman, the jeweler. This
building was completed some time ago
and was one of the first to appear on
| the remodeled thOrougbfare as a
structure of the new type.
Opposite these four stores are the
Manufacturers Shoe company, Ben
son Smith, the druggists; Whitney
and Marsh, drygoods; rhrum's book
store, and the Honolulu Photo Supply
company stores, rapidly progressing
and should be finished within short
time.
When work first started on the new
store fronts, Fort street presented the
appearance of some back '.lley used
for depositing old lumber and gravel.
Huge piles of stones for mixing con"
crete, stacks of lumber, piles of bricks
and various collections of materials
which were to be used in construct
i've r.. hull ni1nd
along the sidewalks and far cut IL TO
the street. Traffic was rot allow ed
to stand for any length Of time along
the street. and autos could not be
parked in front of stores, for the sim
pie reason that there was not rOori
enough for a machine 20 Park and 81
low the street cars and autos to pass.
A policeman had to be stationed along
Fort street to see that people and
autos kept moving. The buildings.
too, presented a far from imposing
spectacle. -Scaffolding and canvas, The
latter to keep the plaster and stray
bricks from falling onto pedestrians,
hid the face of the buildings from
view. People wondered what was
happening. $3.50 49,
But gradually things began to
change The canvas coverings we're
taken down, and the scaffolding be-
gan to disappear. And behind what
had been wall shutting off from ne
public view, appeared the magnificent
store fronts of the progressive mer
chant establishments of Honolulu.
The people who had wondered and
l4l % he f1nfidxy m
of the thoroughfare were loud in heir
concentrations of the new order Cf
things.
Looks like a regular city now,
was heard more than once as Basser5-
by stopped TO watch the warkmen and
admire the architectural designs.
EhIers Reconstructs Store
For several weeks the structural
workers on B. F. Ehler's new store at
tracted the attention of hundreds OF
pedestrians. B. F. Ehler's company
is not only building a new front, bat
is entirely reconstructing their store.
The building today presents st"ik-
ing appearance, with its gray-white
expanse, huge big windows, and
carved work. Without doubt, when
completed, this store will be one OF
the most attractive business houses
in the islands. The store is being
laid cut and constructed on an elah;
crate plan, ard will, when completed
and opened for occupancy, be ;Dl9
to accommodate a much larger :tade
than heretofore.
The plans of the new structures
have followed no definite style in re-
gard to architecture and the design
ers have evidently been striving to
create a real Hawaiian type. Louis
MulIgardt, the famous coast architect
and designer, who was in Honolulu
few months ago and who drew up
plans for Honolulu's proposed COM
mercial center, wanted to create 4
style of building that would differ
from anything ever conceived of on
the mainland.
Architect Mullgardt's plans were for
street to extend from the present
Bishop street through to the water
front, lined on either side by massive
ana Impressive office buildings and
merchant houses. Tits proposition is