Point 12

Welcome to Point 12 on the Lihue Loop Audio Tour, the Lihue Civic Center. Before the Lihue Civic Center was bought by the county, the Civic Center was originally a shopping center.
In 1905, when Lihue became Kauaiʻs county seat, the village was growing in prosperity and power. Lihue Store had moved from its original location west of the current town to the top of the mill road. Tip Top, the Bank of Hawaii, the phone company, and post office were among the businesses that also began locating headquarters there. For the next 50 years, the Lihue Store and its business companions thrived. After Hawaii statehood in 1959, Lihue Plantationʻs parent company, American Factors, began to rethink the town core, and plans for a large-scale shopping center began.

Internationally known architect John Graham—who also designed the Seattle Space Needle and Ala Moana Shopping Center—created the shopping center plan. It was very popular in its prime, housing many businesses such as the new Lihue Store. A grocery store called the Food Center also opened which later turned into Foodland. Big Save eventually took over that spot. Other stores such as Woolworth and Sears, also opened. But in 1982 Grove Farm opened Kukui Grove Shopping Center and many of the businesses moved there.

Since many businesses moved, the shopping center died down, and struggled. While that was happening, the county had been struggling on their own to find offices to put their workers in as they expanded their services. They decided to buy the land and the shopping center in 1987. They then renovated the space and moved many of their county operations there. Today, this important, historic building complex and government center is recognized as eligible for the National Register of Historic Places.

Aloha, this is Mayor Derek Kawakami, Mayor of Kauai, and welcome to our Lihue Civic Center. You know, the present day use of this Civic Center is for housing various county departments and agencies, and it's a hub for customer services including drivers licensing tests, building permits, elderly services, housing vouchers, and many others. And of course, I would be remiss if I didn't say that it also serves as a wonderful gathering place for people to bump into each other and just talk story. As you can see, we’ve added some other amenities like our pop up skate park, which allows our children to have a safe place to be able to skate and be able to have their parents go and do about their day’s business. So welcome again and I hope that you enjoy being here at our Lihue Civic Center.

There are plans in the works for future expansion of the Līhu‘e Civic Center. Located in the town core of Līhu‘e, the County of Kaua‘i plans for transit-oriented development there. In addition to the government-support services and offices already located within, the County of Kaua‘i envisions a mix-use for the property that includes spaces for retail, housing, child care, recreation, and other services.

And that's the story of the Lihue Civic Center stop on the Lihue Loop Audio Tour. This is Trey Nakamura from the Advanced Media Productions Class at Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School. Have a good time on the rest of the tour!