The state plans on delisting theFalls of Clyde from the Hawaiʻi Register of Historic Places so it can move forward with redeveloping Honolulu Harbor.
The Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation said Wednesday that the harbor’s Pier 7 has sat vacant for 14 years. One challenge to redeveloping the pier is that the historic ship has been moored there at its current location near Aloha Tower for decades and has fallen into disrepair.
The state said it is completing the planning and entitlement processes before it issues a request for proposals to remove the ship. Several attempts to remove the ship from the harbor over the years have failed.
The state said the boat must be delisted from the Hawaiʻi Register for Historic Places before it can proceed. It noted that the step was not a reflection of the vessel's important history, which was built in the late 1800s and is the oldest surviving ship of the Matson fleet. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1989.
An assessment from this past March found that if the ship sank, it would need to be raised in pieces. The report also noted that it is likely the vessel may not even be intact by next year.
Bruce McEwan is the president of the Friends of the Falls of Clyde, which currently owns the vessel. McEwan said he believes the ship can be stabilized and brought back to Scotland, where it was made more than 100 years ago.
"The reality concerning the delisting process is that the ship would not be a National Historic Landmark once she leaves the U.S., which is where we hope she will end up," McEwan said via email. "Having her returned to Scotland for preservation and repurposing still meets our mission of making sure Falls of Clyde has a life and purpose in the maritime world in the 21st Century."
He said their biggest challenge is convincing the DOT that the recent assessment and survey are not the end of the story and that the ship can remain intact.
"What we need is to find a 'white knight' with the resources to create a path to the future for Falls of Clyde and she reaches her 145th birthday on Dec. 12, 2023," McEwan said.
Condition assessment of the Falls of Clyde from the Hawai'i Department of Transportation:
