Aliiolani Hale, Palace and Supreme Court building in downtown Honolulu, United States.
Aliʻiōlani Hale is a government and judicial building in downtown Honolulu, designed by Australian architect Thomas Rowe in Italian Renaissance Revival style as a palace for King Kamehameha V. Its pale grey facade is built of concrete blocks, with a central square tower carrying a round clock face below a triangular pediment and a flagpole on top. Two rows of rectangular windows run across the wings, and a gold-leaf statue of Kamehameha the Great with cloak and staff stands on a white pedestal on the lawn, flanked by tall palm trees.
Kamehameha V laid the cornerstone on February 19, 1872, for a building designed by Thomas Rowe as a palace but commissioned as government offices. The king died before completion, and David Kalākaua dedicated it in 1874. Until 1893 it housed most executive departments, the legislature and the courts; that year the Committee of Safety, led by Lorrin A. Thurston, deposed Queen Liliʻuokalani by proclamation from the building.
The name Aliʻiōlani Hale means "House of Heavenly Kings" in Hawaiian, and Aliʻiōlani was also one of Kamehameha V's given names. The room beneath the tower clocks first served as a studio for artists hired by the Hawaiian government. The building now holds the King Kamehameha V Judiciary History Center, with a restored historic courtroom and exhibits on Hawaiʻi's legal history.
The building is located in downtown Honolulu at 417 South King Street and is easy to find and access from the street. Visitors can explore both the exterior facade and the publicly accessible interior spaces that feature exhibits about legal history and the judicial system.
In December 2005, Larry Connors of the University of Denver located the cornerstone capsule with ground-penetrating radar, working at the direction of the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command. It holds photographs of royal families, the Hawaiian Kingdom constitution, stamps, coins, newspapers, a calendar and books. It was left in place to avoid damaging the building.
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