The first Hawaiians to settle the banks of the Wailoa River found it a rich wetland where the fresh waters spread out before mingling with the salt of Hilo Bay. As they cultivated Piopio, they built loko ʻiʻa (fishponds) and loʻi (taro paddies) which eventually would feed generations of chiefs who ruled the district of Hilo from its bountiful heart.

The renowned chief Alapaʻinuiakauaua dwelt at Piʻopiʻo, and it was the final home of Keōua Kalanikupuapaʻīkalaninui Ahilapalapa, father of Paiʻea Kamehameha. Keōua died at Piʻopiʻo in the 1760s. Kamehameha himself would spend time at the royal compound while constructing the vast Peleleu Fleet. Kauikeaouli, Kamehameha III visited Piʻopiʻo in his first trip of state as king.

Later, Ruth Keanolani Kauanahoahoa Keʻelikōlani, great granddaughter of Paiʻea Kamehameha, would be heir to the lands, and had a home that was located on the boarder of Piʻopiʻo and Kūkūau, what is now the grassy lawn near the Chevron gas station.

In the mid 1800s, Piʻopiʻo was luxuriant with coconut trees, as referenced in this line from an 1864 chant:

I ke one o Waiolama, I ka uluniu o Piopio,

Ka Nupepa Kuokoa: Vol. 3, No. 1 (2 January 1864): page 3

“To the sands of Waiolama, to the coconut grove of Piʻopiʻo.”

In 1885, the first large group of Japanese immigrants arrived in Hawaiʻi to work on the sugar plantations. By around 1900, they were starting to lease land to farm. By then, many of the stone walls, temple platforms, and other structures of Waiākea, including at Piʻopiʻo, had been dismantled for construction projects, such as the new wharves and roadways of bustling Hilo.

Many of the new immigrants had been farmers in Japan. They found the fertile lands of Piʻopiʻo perfect for rice, taro, and other crops with which they were already familiar. Soon, a thriving village grew, and was named “Shinmachi,” “New Town,” by its inhabitants. Bon dances and other festivals were celebrated by the tight-knit community on the banks of Hilo’s great fishponds. But four decades later, in 1946, at 6:54 am on April 1st, a tsunami pulled the ocean away from Hilo, and then pushed it back over the waterfront and Shinmachi. Across the island, 159 people died.

With the resilience for which Hilo is known, people re-built. Hilo, and Shinmachi, rose again. But, only 14 years later, in 1960, “New Town” was destroyed by another great wave. The successive waves reached as high as 35 feet, and killed 61 people.

Shinmachi would not be rebuilt.

Instead, the State of Hawaiʻi turned the area into a 132 acre green zone, creating the Wailoa River State Recreation Area along Hilo’s bay front. An art center, tsunami memorial, veterans memorial, and statue of Paiʻea Kamehameha now stand where chiefs once lived. Instead of boardwalks zig-zagging across the watery landscape, gravel and asphalt paths meander about the area. Many trees – coconut, banyan and mango – which survived the tsunami remain. Tsunami survivors tell stories of being saved when their homes were washed against the trees, and they scrambled up the strong limbs to safety. Bridges now cross the fishponds and river in graceful arcs, reflecting in the waters below.

Shinmachi Tsunami Memorial, a wave-shaped lava amphitheater with a ceramic mosaic set in the courtyard, honors the people of Hawaiʻi Island who were lost to tsunami. The mosaic, titled “Submerged Rocks and Water Reflections” was designed by Maui-born abstract expressionist artist Tadashi Sato.

The Vietnam War Memorial was dedicated in 1988. Built by volunteers, with the assistance of Fair Contracting and Fukunaga Electric, the 20ft by 20ft platform is faced with black granite. An eternal flame flickers at the center of the upper platform. A grove of 50 palm trees border the pathway, commemorating the 50 Hawaiʻi County men who lost their lives in the war.

Across the Waiolama Canal from the Vietnam War Memorial is a statue of Paiʻea Kamehameha. At 14ft (4.3 m), it is the tallest of the four statues of the mōʻī, (sovereign). Originally commissioned by the Princeville Corporation for their Kauai resort, the people of Kauaʻi objected to its being erected on that island, as he had never ruled Kauaʻi. Through the assistance of the Kamehameha Schools Alumni Association, East Hawaii Chapter, Princeville Corporation donated it to Hilo, a place which figured prominently in the mōʻī’s rise to power. Hilo was his capitol while he prepared his fleet to move northward, and his highest ranking son, Kalaninui kua Liholiho i ke kapu ʻIolani, also known as Kamehameha II, was born. Legend tells that Kamehameha gave the town its name when a rope fashioned in the style called “hilo” was used to prevent his canoe from being carried away by the tide. Sculpted by R. Sandrin at the Fracaro Foundry in Vicenza, Italy, in 1963, the statue finally was installed in its present location in 1997.

The Wailoa Center was designed by Oda & McCarty Architects and completed in 1967. Now a half century old, it retains the classic 1960s architecture. Then-governor John Burns shepherded the center’s construction as a mahalo to Hilo for supporting him, and placed Tadao Okimoto as its first director. Governor Burns asked Hilo educator Mary Matayoshi to help Okimoto set up the new center. The first exhibit was of sterling silver, which ran for four years. That was followed by a kimono exhibit which ran for almost two.

When Okimoto was ready to retire from the center, Kathleen “Pudding” Lassiter was asked to apply for the position. By 1999, it was time for some refurbishing. The center needed new paint, inside and out. The asphalt floor was cracked. The storage room was full of unused items, and the office was cramped. Lassiter was given $6,000 for paint. “The whole community pulled together,” she says. George Iranon at Kulani Prison brought 30 of the inmates to the center, where they worked for three weeks. They cleaned the storeroom and made it into an office, and turned the small office into a small gallery. “I had no money to feed them,” Lassiter says. “I went to all the okazuya and each one donated bentos. . . Safeway and KTA donated watermelons. . . Pepsi donated sodas. . . So, they could eat and they had all the soda they wanted for the three weeks.” After their release, several came back to work at the center as volunteers.

Lassiter recruited volunteers from all walks of life, including seniors from the county RSVP program. Her oldest volunteer was Caroline Johnson, who began at the center in her 90s. When she was 105, she told Lassiter she would need to retire, as she could no longer hear the phone.

The loving maintenance provided by a variety of entities has kept the building in excellent shape for its age. Throughout the years, local businesses and individuals have lent their time, talent, and other resources to mālama, to care for, the center.

Codie King, the current Wailoa Center director, says, “Without our supportive community, without our volunteers, without individuals who find the value in culture and art, Wailoa Center would not still be here 50 years later. I feel the momentum growing for Wailoa Center to continue well into the future by celebrating our community’s shared diversity, ideas and perspectives. We will grow, side by side, with our many cultures, with our varied beliefs in our delicate environment, hopefully to perpetuate a meaningful, positive lifestyle we can share with the world.”

The most recent refurbishment includes a series of murals, by Hawaiʻi island artist and educator Emily Leucht, which enwrap the building. Each of the mural panels references a different place-based story of Piʻopiʻo.

Lokelani Brandt, whose master’s thesis is an ethno-historical study of Piʻopiʻo, uncovered a list of place names recorded in 1925 by Mrs. Kaʻouli Kaʻai and documented by Theodore Kelsey. It is these place names that are inspiration for the imagery within the mural. Brandt says, “Recalling the old stories is one part of maintaining a connection to our past. The history and heritage of a place are realized when we retell and internalize its stories. As we move forward and are required to make decisions about how we will utilize a place, knowing the cultural history allows us to make informed decisions that are founded on the generational layering of knowledge and wisdom that are place specific.”

The simple blocked out shapes – swirls, triangles, reticulations – contain the essence of a complex and deeply storied past. While it would be impossible to include all of the place names, each panel depicts carefully selected wahi pana within the area that the panel faces. Most of names are within Wailoa or Piʻopiʻo. The mountains of Maunakea and Mauna Loa also are included, as they are an essential part of our water gathering systems.

Leucht says, “I hope that the representation of these names in this visual and public manner will encourage our community to question the history of Hilo that they already know, and then to look deeper. I hope to honor those that have come before, and that this peek into the past will give us a path towards the revitalization of Piʻopiʻo, a central part of Waiākea, and Hilo.”

Included in that revitalization of Piʻopiʻo is an ethnobotanical garden.

In traditional Hawaii thought, plants have a genealogy that connects them to humans. Urbanization and agriculture have removed many native plants from the daily lives of people, severing this connection. The Piʻopiʻo Ethnobotanical Garden, proposed in March of this year, seeks to honor and renew the connection, and to revitalize the area by providing an interactive garden that features food crops as well as plants for the making medicine, lei, dye and cordage. The garden is planned to be a community resource of plants high in ethno-botanical importance. As a centrally located space that curates these vital species, the garden will provide a place where the public can interact with these plants, form stronger relationships with them, and practice cultural traditions, all of which will ensure that these “plant people” have a seat at our table for generations to come.

Supporting an ethnobotanical garden, providing space for teaching art, and hosting exhibits throughout the year makes a busy calendar, quite a change from the early days of the center when a kimono show once ran for two years. Over the years, exhibits have changed from primarily cultural shows to more art type shows and exhibits. 

There are eleven exhibits a year with the most popular being the Woodturners (March), the MAMO (Maoli Art Month Show-in April), Woodworkers/Ukulele show (October) and the Hawaii Nei Show (November –mid-December) which occur on a yearly basis.  People have been known to plan their vacations around attending the Woodturners and Woodworker/Ukulele Shows.  Another very popular show is the “Abstract Only” show in August which has been a staple for 14 years.  Many of the exhibits have ties with various community groups, the University of Hawaii-Hilo and Art Galleries from all over the island. 

The Wailoa Center is part of the Department of Land and Natural Resources, Division of State Parks, and is open to the public Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. free of charge.