By Miguel Gonzalez
Editor
Photos Courtesy Aurora Group
(Honolulu)–Downtown-Chinatown business owners and merchants began this past weekend their collective volunteer effort to coordinate clean up efforts in the area by taking to the streets of the district and providing much needed clean up to buildings and streets.
“This clean up brought the community together. It also brought a great feeling to many of us that participated because we were working to help something bigger that ourselves,” said Sandy Pohl, Secretary of both, Friends of Chinatown and the Merchants Association.
These efforts take place around busy area-wide events like First Friday and St. Patrick’s Day and during “normal” business. The Arts District Merchants Association (ADMA) has recently joined the City’s Adopt a Block Program and is now responsible for the area bounded by Smith to Bethel Street and Beretania Street to Nimitz Highway.
“Our goal is to continue these efforts four times a year for the next two years,” Pohl explained.
On any given First Friday, attendance can vary from 2,000 to 5,000 people Pohl said. “That creates a lot of rubbish and this is why we decided to join forces.”
Some of the tasks performed were removing graffiti, staples, tape and unwanted posters from nearby buildings and utility poles.
Also, as part of the effort, award-winning graphic artist and print maker, Hans Loffel, donated his time and talent to paint a large mural on the building owned by Hawaii Theatre, next to Restaurant Epic (on Pauahi Street, between Nuuanu and Bethel).
This effort was collaboration between the Arts District Merchants Association, Friends of Chinatown, District 1 Community Policing, Honolulu Weed & Seed, City of Honolulu’s
Downtown Clean Team, Department of Facilities and Maintenance, Restaurant Epic, Hawaii Theatre and the City’s Environmental Services Storm Water Quality Branch, Adopt a Block Program.
Pohl said that in addition to the volunteers, the merchants, such as Murphy’s, O’Toole’s, Bar 35, Manifest, Downbeat Diner, bambuTwo Café + Martini Lounge, Brasserie Du Vin and Lucky Belly, of Chinatown also collaborated by sending their employees to remove rubbish from the front of their stores, restaurants or bars. “After the clean up we all felt a great sense of accomplishment. We look forward to our next event in June where we will be cleaning up the parks in our area with the goal that we have even more volunteers help this great cause,” Pohl said.
To volunteer for the Chinatown clean up, please contact Sandy Pohl at friendsofchinatown@gmail.com.