By Honolulu District Public Affairs
FORT SHAFTER, HI -- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Honolulu District is scheduled to begin construction during the week of May 23 of a recently awarded $945,000 contract to install four chairlifts along the eastern side of the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) Honolulu Memorial within the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl. The chairlifts will facilitate American Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant access to the entire memorial.
Work began this week to clean the memorial’s Courts of the Missing, upper and lower plazas, chapel building, flagpoles, statue, fountain, stairs and handrails, and to reseal the Courts of the Missing and staircase.
Access to various areas of the memorial and transient movement near and adjacent to the projects may be impeded. The Corps of Engineers Honolulu District and ABMC ask the public’s indulgence and patience during the construction and cleaning, including any inconvenience this may cause during the Memorial Day and Father’s Day weekends.
“When completed, these projects will improve the appearance and provide access to all five levels of this magnificent tribute to American service and sacrifice,” said ABMC Secretary Max Cleland, whose father served as a Navy enlisted man at Pearl Harbor during World War II. “We regret the short-term inconvenience projects like this cause, but the visitor experience will be greatly enhanced in the future.”
The Honolulu Memorial commemorates 18,096 American World War II missing from the Pacific, excluding those from the southwest Pacific; 8,200 American missing from the Korean War; and 2,504 Americans missing from the Vietnam War. Galleries containing mosaic maps and descriptions of the achievements of the American armed forces in the Central and South Pacific regions in World War II and in Korea flank the memorial chapel.
ABMC plans to add Vietnam War maps and descriptions to the memorial in 2012.
General public questions regarding access to the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl can be answered by calling (808) 532-3720.