A New Chinatown Archway Is Expected to Open This Summer

Image: Courtesy of andrewtang.design

At the corner of King and Kekaulike streets, one of the country’s oldest Chinatowns is about to get a new arch, the hallmark of Chinatowns across the globe.

Businessman and philanthropist Eddie Flores Jr., founder and chairman of L & L Hawaiian Barbecue, has been working on the project with the city since 2019, when he was tapped by then-Mayor Kirk Caldwell. Flores formed the nonprofit A Better Chinatown Association to raise money and begin improving the area. “Because Chinatown is in the historical district, it requires significant effort and coordination with both the city and the state,” Flores says.

The group has since refreshed the existing arches on the bridge near River and King streets and is planning the rollout of the new arch with officials and contractors.

Flores hopes the arch will be completed this summer. “Chinatown will never be the same,” Flores says, adding that a second arch is planned for Hotel and Kekaulike streets.

In late February, not long after Year of the Horse banners went up at Kekaulike Mall, the group broke ground on the arch.

The top of the arch, designed by local architect Andrew Tang, was manufactured in China, while the base, made here, features inscriptions honoring 14 Chinese people who made significant contributions to the community. Some names are widely known, such as Clarence T.C. Ching and Chinn Ho, while others have shaped the Islands from behind the scenes, including Foodland co-founder Joanna Sullivan.

There also will be several murals in the area showing the history of Chinatown, painted by local artists. The first, by plein air painter Mark Brown, is at the entrance to Maunakea Marketplace on Hotel Street; it shows Sun Yat-sen arriving in Honolulu on one side, and on the other, giving his first major speech in 1903 in which he advocated for the overthrow of China’s Manchu regime. Brown, whose grandfather’s grandfather was one of Sun Yat-sen’s teachers at ‘Iolani School, says Chinatown is one of his favorite places to paint.

honoluluchinatown.org, @abetterchinatownhnl

Katrina Valcourt is the executive editor of HONOLULU Magazine.