LAIE, Hawaii — President Gordon B. Hinckley fulfilled a 14-month-old wish when he returned here on Saturday, Dec. 11, almost 14 months after breaking ground, to dedicate a $5.5 million beautification project on Hale La'a Boulevard, which stretches from "temple beach" at the edge of the Pacific Ocean to the Laie Hawaii Temple.
At a special meeting in the BYU-Hawaii Cannon Activities Center, President Hinckley also dedicated the university's new front entrance, which includes a renovated "little circle" and McKay Building foyer, as well as major renovations to the Laie Hawaii Temple Visitors Center.
President Hinckley, who was accompanied by Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve, was in Hawaii Dec. 11-12 for the dedication of Hale La'a Boulevard, and for the December graduation exercises for BYU-Hawaii. (Please see accompanying article.) The Church president broke ground for the beautification project in October 2003 while in Hawaii for the 40th anniversary of the Polynesian Cultural Center. (Please see Nov. 1, 2003, Church News.)
"I have been coming to this part of the world now for some 45 years. I have been here many times," said President Hinckley, who indicated he was not speaking from any prepared notes. "There has been in my heart a great love for this place.
"I feel a tremendous sense of obligation. I'm now an old man," continued the 94-year-old prophet, "and I know that in the natural course of events it will not be long before I will pass on; and I anticipate that when that happens, I shall have the opportunity and the responsibility of meeting with President Joseph F. Smith, George Q. Cannon, Heber J. Grant and others of the Brethren who have had such an effective influence concerning this area.
"The Church has been responsible for establishing here something we do not have anywhere else in the world. We have in this beautiful area a temple of the Lord, a house of God; we have the BYU-Hawaii campus, and all those facilities here; we have a great tourist attraction, the Polynesian Cultural Center; and we have the Hawaii Reserves and other organizations that promote the growth and profitable use of this ground," President Hinckley said.
He added that he hoped the improvements would enhance Laie's tradition of being a place where the Latter-day Saints and others can "find refuge from the noise, the conflict, stress (and) all the difficulties of modern living, here to find peace, here to commune with the Lord, here to enter into His sacred house and partake of the holy ordinances which are administered therein.
"For those of you who live here, let's make this a place of beauty," President Hinckley continued. "Let's keep it beautiful. Let us beautify our homes. Let peace and righteousness and goodness and faith garner our homes.
"May this be a place where all people — thousands, hundreds of thousands, even millions of people who travel up and down Kamehameha Highway — may slow down and look up this lovely street to the temple, and have come into their hearts some acknowledgement that this is a special place — a place of beauty, a place of faith, a place of God. The very name of the street we dedicate denotes 'sacred house, house of the Lord,' in the beautiful Hawaiian language.
"Mahalo (thank you), my beloved brothers and sisters," President Hinckley said before offering the dedicatory prayer.
Eric Beaver, president and CEO of Hawaii Reserves Inc., which manages approximately 7,000 acres of Church-affiliated land in Laie and oversaw the Hale La'a Boulevard project, said, "The beauty of the project exceeds all of our expectations and sets a new aesthetic standard for Laie."
He explained "governing parameters helped found the design of this splendid improvement."
"First, it was important to extend the beauty, character and influence of the temple through the community, out to the highway, and into the water's edge," he said, adding that "while it is important to enter into the temple, it is equally important that the temple enters into us."
Other objectives included inviting visitors and kamaaina to the temple grounds and raising the aesthetic standards of the community, he said. "Let this temple and the improvements that are dedicated today be the model for our own temples, whether they house our families or our spirits."
BYU-Hawaii President Eric B. Shumway said, "Similar to Hale La'a Boulevard and the temple, our new front entrance accentuates the David O. McKay Building foyer, which contains signature art pieces depicting the founding of the campus 50 years ago.
"The whole project is a gift from people who love the campus, generous friends and donors who want to participate in our golden jubilee celebration throughout 2005," he added. "They bore the full financial burden of the entire project."
Before the meeting, Elder Ralph L. Cottrell, director of the Laie Hawaii Temple Visitor Center, explained that the popular site, which attracts more than 100,000 people a year, will reopen on Jan. 22, 2005. Renovations there include several interactive displays — some designed especially for the center's many Asian visitors — that focus on families, genealogy, the Book of Mormon, and include the capability of showing large-format movies such as The Testaments, which is currently shown in off-hours at the Polynesian Cultural Center.
"I'm just thrilled with all the improvements," Elder Cottrell said. "It's going to be such a beautiful place and a tremendous experience. I firmly believe we're going to double the attendance we usually have in a year."
