City and County of Honolulu News Releases

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DUKE KAHANAMOKU STATUE TO RECEIVE CONSERVATION TREATMENT (Mon., Feb. 14, 2011)—Technicians from the Mayor's Office of Culture and the Arts will be conducting conservation treatment on the bronze statue of Duke Paoa Kahanamoku on Wed., Feb. 16, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The statue, located at Kuhio Beach in Waikiki, will not be accessible to the public during those times. The conservation treatment is being conducted as part of the annual maintenance cycle for the City's artworks on public display. The statue is made of cast bronze on a fiberglass reinforced cast stone base shaped to resemble a natural border.  The Waikiki Improvement Association commissioned artist Jan Gordon Fisher to create the 9-foot statue, which was installed in 1990 to commemorate Kahanamoku's 100th birthday. The Waikiki Improvement Association gifted the statue to the City in 1995. Kahanamoku was born in Honolulu in 1890, and gained international fame as a highly skilled surfer, Olympic gold medalist swimmer, sheriff of Honolulu and unofficial goodwill ambassador of Hawaii. The statue is among the more than 80 City monuments and sculptures on display for public viewing throughout Oahu. There are more than 900 items in the City's art collection. -30- Media contact: Dymian Racoma, Mayor's Office of Culture and the Arts, 768-5288.