Iolani Palace officials ask Hawaii lawmakers to sustain operational funding as repairs and school programs continue

Representative Capella convened an informational briefing of the House Committee on Culture, Arts & International Affairs with visitors from Iolani Palace and Bishop Museum to discuss state support for both institutions. Paula, director of Friends of Iolani Palace, described how the organization uses state operational funding to preserve the historic building and sustain programs, including school tours.

Paula said the Friends of Iolani Palace “were formed in 1966 as the nonprofit to oversee the repair and restoration and maintenance of Iolani Palace and to share her story with Hawaii and the world.” She told the committee the group was designated in 1976 as the State of Hawaii Museum of Monarchy History and clarified that the palace remains under state parks (DLNR) oversight.

The director described three principal near-term priorities for the Friends: (1) repairs and maintenance that the group can fund directly, (2) a planned basement exhibit with supporting infrastructure, and (3) replacement of an elevator that is more than 60 years old. She said the Friends signed a $1.4 million contract to update basement electrical work, add Wi‑Fi and pre‑install piping in anticipation of a future fire suppression system so a new exhibit will not be later torn apart for piping work. She said the palace is conducting “MacGyvering” fixes on its HVAC and that, at present, its HVAC usage pattern is shaped by electricity costs (which she described rising from about $25,000 to about $40,000 a month if run in the originally designed mode).

On large capital needs, the director said, “A fire suppression system is what we've been slowly working on, and that's estimated to be $3 million to $4 million.” She said the Friends are funding interim basement piping themselves rather than waiting for a state CIP conversion that would route the project through DLNR and delay work. She told members the Friends have also paid to clean and polish historic silver and commissioned a California artisan to restore reverse‑etched glass doors using the 1882 method guided by Secretary of the Interior standards for National Historic Landmarks.

The director described school‑visit programming: ticket sales are “pretty darn close to what they were pre‑pandemic,” and a donor is underwriting bus transportation and admission for schools next year so “all students, whether it's public, private, charter, homeschool, will provide bus and admission into the palace.” She said the Friends are hiring educators and a facilities person with preservation experience and are exploring airline ticket donations and deeper discounts to expand neighbor‑island student access. She also said a 3‑D virtual walkthrough exists on the palace website but “it doesn't have any audio” to discourage purely virtual visitors who might otherwise not come in person.

Representative Capella and other members asked about a prior GIA that had been treated as a CIP and whether those funds have been released; Paula said the GIA was about $150,000 and, when she last checked, the funding had not been released. The committee did not take formal action at the briefing.

The presentation and questions emphasized the distinction between what the Friends can staff and fund directly and what remains under DLNR or a CIP process. Committee members expressed interest in visiting the palace and exploring interim ways to support neighbor‑island school access.

Ending: The committee closed the segment after thanking the director and hearing a summary of near‑term projects and funding needs. No motions or votes were recorded during the informational briefing.