View source for Hawaii State Capitol

{{Short description|State capitol building of the U.S. state of Hawaii}}
{{More citations needed|date=August 2012}}
{{Use American English|date=August 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{Infobox building
|name = Hawaii State Capitol
|image = Hawaii state capitol from the south-east.jpg
|caption = The Hawaii State Capitol from the southeast
|location = 415 S. Beretania Street [[Honolulu]], [[Hawaii]]
|coordinates = {{coord|21|18|27|N|157|51|27|W|region:US-HI_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}
|start_date = {{Start date and age| November 10, 1965}}<ref name=docomomo>{{cite web|title=Hawaii State Capitol|url=http://www.docomomo-us.org/register/fiche/hawaii_state_capitol|publisher=Docomomo International|access-date=27 April 2012}}</ref>
|completion_date = {{Start date and age| March 15, 1969}}<ref name=docomomo/>
|inauguration_date =
|architect = Belt, Lemmon & Lo and John Carl Warnecke & Associates<ref name=docomomo/>
|owner = [[State of Hawaii]]
|cost =
|client = [[State of Hawaii]]
|height =
|style = [[Hawaiian architecture|Hawaiian international architecture]]
| website = {{URL | www.capitol.hawaii.gov}}
| embedded = 
{{Infobox NRHP
| name = Hawaii State Capitol & Grounds
| embed = yes
| nrhp_type = cp 
| nocat = yes
| partof = Hawaii Capital Historic District
| partof_refnum = 78001020
| designated_nrhp_type = 12/01/1978
}}
}}

The '''Hawaii State Capitol''' is the official statehouse or capitol building of the [[U.S. state]] of [[Hawaii]]. From its chambers, the executive and legislative branches perform the duties involved in governing the state. The [[Hawaii State Legislature]]—composed of the twenty-five member [[Hawaii State Senate]] led by the [[President of the Hawaii Senate|President of the Senate]] and the fifty-one member [[Hawaii State House of Representatives]] led by the [[Speaker of the Hawaii House of Representatives|Speaker of the House]]—convenes in the building. Its principal tenants are the [[Governor of Hawaii|governor]] and [[Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii|lieutenant governor of Hawaii]], as well as all legislative offices and the Legislative Reference Bureau.

Located in [[downtown Honolulu]], the Hawaii State Capitol was commissioned and dedicated by [[John A. Burns]], second governor of Hawaii. It opened on March 15, 1969, replacing the former statehouse, the {{okina}}[[Iolani Palace]].

==Monuments==
Burns designed the restoration of the royal palace built by [[Kalākaua|King David Kalākaua]] and [[Queen Kapiolani|Queen Kapi{{okina}}olani]]; as part of that effort, the Queen Lili{{okina}}uokalani Statue in the Capitol Mall between the capitol building and {{okina}}Iolani Palace was dedicated on April 10, 1982. The site was once ''Haimoeipo'', the royal residence of [[Kalama|Queen Dowager Kalama]] and later King [[Lunalilo]], who died there.

Several other capitol building monuments decorate the statehouse grounds. The Beretania Street entrance features the Liberty Bell, a gift of the [[President of the United States]] and the [[United States Congress]] to the [[Territory of Hawaii]] in 1950 as a symbol of freedom and democracy. One of the more prominent monuments on the statehouse grounds is the [[Father Damien Statue]]—a tribute to the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu|Roman Catholic]] [[priest]] who died in 1869 after sixteen years of serving patients afflicted with [[leprosy]]. [[Father Damien]] was [[beatified]] by [[Pope John Paul II]] in 1995, and canonized on October 11, 2009, by Pope Benedict XVI. His feast Day is celebrated on May 10. In Hawaiʻi, it is celebrated on the day of his death, April 15.

The Eternal Flame on Beretania Street is a metal sculptured torch that burns endlessly as a tribute to all men and women from Hawaii who served with the [[United States Air Force|Air Force]], [[United States Army|Army]], [[United States Coast Guard|Coast Guard]], [[United States Marine Corps|Marines]], and [[United States Navy|Navy]] in the major and minor conflicts in which the United States was engaged. Likewise, the Korean-Vietnam War Memorial pays tribute to service members who died in those conflicts. Dedicated on July 24, 1994, by [[Benjamin J. Cayetano]], fifth Governor of Hawaii, the monument consists of 768 black marble pedestals engraved with the names of 312 service members of the [[Vietnam War]]. A larger marble slab bears a [[Hawaiian language]] inscription of remembrance.

==Architecture==
The Hawaii State Capitol is an American adaptation of the [[Bauhaus]] style termed "[[Hawaiian architecture|Hawaiian international architecture]]". It was designed by a partnership between the firms of Belt, Lemon and Lo (Architects Hawaii Ltd.), and [[John Carl Warnecke]] and Associates. Unlike other state capitols modeled after the [[United States Capitol]], the Hawaii State Capitol's distinct architectural features symbolize various natural aspects of Hawaii. Among them:

* The building is surrounded by a [[reflecting pool]], symbolizing the [[Pacific Ocean]].
* The two legislative chambers are cone-shaped, symbolizing [[volcano]]es that formed the [[Hawaiian Islands]].
* The columns around the perimeter of the building have shapes resembling [[royal palm]] trees. There are eight columns in four rows at either side of the building, representing the [[Hawaiian Islands|eight main islands]] of Hawaii; sets of eight items appear in other places inside and along the outside of the building.
* The Capitol is built with an open-air design, allowing sun, wind, and rain to enter; the central atrium opens to the sky and rainbows can sometimes be seen inside the building when it rains.
* Four kukui nut trees (Hawaii's state tree) are a numerical reference to the four main counties in the State of Hawaii and the four major Hawaiian gods (Kukailimoku, Kane, Lono, and Kanaloa).<ref name="HHF">{{cite web |last1=Tsutsumi |first1=Cheryl Chee |title=State Capitol Awash with Meaning |url=https://historichawaii.org/2018/01/18/statecapitol/ |via=the Historic Hawai'i Foundation |work=[[Honolulu Star-Advertiser]] |access-date=19 July 2019 |date=14 Jan 2018}}</ref> Sets of four items appear in many other places in the building.
* When standing in the center of the structure, the chandeliers from both legislative chambers, which represent the sun and moon, can be seen through the glass walls, while the area that is normally reserved for a rotunda in most capitol buildings is left open to the sky. It is said that the sky is Hawaii's capitol dome. 
* German-American artist [[Otto Piene]] designed the chandeliers, which are kinetic sculptures made of small objects. The Sun chandelier in the House is made of dozens of gold-plated globes, and the Moon chandelier in the Senate is made of 620 white [[chambered nautilus]] shells.<ref name="HHF" />

<gallery widths="200" heights="200">
File:Hawaii State Capitol, Beretania Street, Honolulu, HI - 52221001099.jpg|The Hawaii State Capitol is on Beretania Street.
File:Atrium, Hawaii State Capitol, Beretania Street, Honolulu, HI - 52221005984.jpg|The central atrium
File:Statue of Father Damien 3.jpeg|Statue of [[Father Damien]] outside the Hawaii State Capitol Building
File:HonoDwntwnfmCapitol.jpg|Reflecting pool
File:Hawaii State Capitol.jpg|Hawaii State Capitol photographed from the rim of [[Punchbowl Crater]]
</gallery>

===Reflecting pool algae issue===
From the time the Capitol was completed in 1969, the reflecting pool has had a persistent [[algae]] growth problem, due partly to the fact the pool is fed with [[brackish water]] from on-site wells. Attempts by the state to fix the problem included introducing [[tilapia]] fish into the pool and installing an [[ozone]] treatment system.<ref>{{cite news| last=Bernardo| first=Rosemarie| title=Capitol looking for fix to pools' algae problem |work=[[Honolulu Star-Bulletin]] | date=2004-05-12| url=http://archives.starbulletin.com/2004/05/12/news/story3.html| access-date=2008-02-04}}</ref> The state currently has the pool lining scrubbed manually with enzymes added to the water to combat growth. Some Capitol regulars say the algae growth has come to represent the pollution of the Pacific Ocean, in an ironic twist of the original symbolic meaning of the pool.<ref>{{cite news| last=Novak| first=Candice| title=Algae defeats state at Capitol pool| work=[[Honolulu Star-Bulletin]]| date=2007-03-05| url=http://starbulletin.com/2007/03/05/news/story05.html| access-date=2008-02-04| archive-date=2008-07-06| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080706051454/http://starbulletin.com/2007/03/05/news/story05.html| url-status=dead}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of Hawaii state legislatures]]
* [[List of state and territorial capitols in the United States]]

== Citations ==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Hawaii State Capitol}}
* {{Official website|https://governor.hawaii.gov/contact-us/hawaiʻi-state-capitol-tours/}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20041119083807/http://www.honolulu.gov/moca/historichonolulu.htm Historic Honolulu (The Capitol District)]
* [http://www.cupola.com/html/bldgstru/statecap/cap03.htm Description of Hawaii State Capitol] from [http://www.cupola.com CUPOLA]

{{Honolulu}}
{{Hawaii}}
{{US State Capitols}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Buildings and structures in Honolulu]]
[[Category:Government buildings in Hawaii]]
[[Category:Government of Hawaii]]
[[Category:Hawaiian architecture]]
[[Category:State capitols in the United States]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Honolulu]]
[[Category:Historic district contributing properties in Hawaii]]
[[Category:Government buildings completed in 1969]]
[[Category:1969 establishments in Hawaii]]
[[Category:National Register of Historic Places in Honolulu]]
[[Category:Government buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Hawaii]]