HILO — The entire upper floor of the Lyman Museum is closed until late next year as the museum reconstructs its popular Island Heritage Gallery.
The gallery, an exhibit of Hawaii’s “human experience,” described the Polynesian settlers and immigrants who formed Hawaii’s society, museum Director Barbara Moir said. However it was more than 40 years old and outdated — its content ended in the plantation era.
Moir said updating the exhibit, which entails a large-scale redesign and reconstruction, will bring it into the modern era.
Construction began June 1 and is slated to finish in November 2018. The project has a $2.25 million price tag.
“When it’s done, the story the exhibit will tell will go past the plantation era,” Moir said. “It will also go into some aspects of what was important about the plantation era that the previous gallery didn’t touch on. The previous gallery basically just introduced people to the five major ethnic groups brought to Hawaii … the new gallery will illustrate the profound impact the plantation era had on every space of Hawaii’s society.”
Once finished, the updated gallery will include new technology such as iPads and touch screens, as well as an audio booth for visitors to listen to Hawaiian music as it’s changed through time, Moir said. It also will feature a new interactive learning space called the Kipuka, with hands-on activities for keiki including Hawaiian tattoo design, cordage making and mat plaiting.
The Lyman’s entire 3,600-square-foot top floor is closed during construction. The top floor also contained the Korean Grandfather’s House, a life-size replica of a 1930s village home from Korea, and the Special Exhibits gallery used for traveling displays, most recently photos from the John Howard Pierce Photography Collection. The Korean Grandfather’s House was on long-term loan to the museum and is moving elsewhere, Moir said.
The museum was founded in 1931 by descendants of David and Sarah Lyman, missionaries who arrived in 1832 from New England. The Lymans built the first New England-style missionary homes in Hilo on what now is Haili Street. That home was last restored in the early 2000s and is now open to the public for guided tours. Moir said it’s the oldest frame structure of any kind on the island.
These days, the Lyman attracts about 15,000 visitors per year. About 60 percent are nonresidents, though Moir said it’s seeing a growing number of kama‘aina.
Its last major reconstruction was in the late 1990s, when the Earth Heritage Gallery was redesigned and moved from upstairs to downstairs. The museum next wants to make more improvements within the Earth Heritage Gallery, contingent on future funding.
“We see ourselves as stewards and caretakers of a heritage,” Moir said. “And not just the Lyman heritage, it’s the story of Hawaii and all its comprehensiveness. We really pride ourselves on taking a look at the islands from a physical standpoint as well as a cultural standpoint.”