State officials said they are moving ahead with plans to demolish an old sampan fishing fleet support building at Kewalo Basin on Monday over objections of a community group, but will preserve a chute that once loaded the boats with ice.

The Hawai'i Community Development Authority had slated the dilapidated two-story building and ice chute for demolition in March along with an adjacent ice production facility, fish auction warehouse and rubbish incinerator on state land.

The three latter structures were razed, but the dock operations building and ice chute were left untouched until HCDA further consulted with the Historic Preservation Division of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources.

A pedestrian promenade fronting restaurants and shops was previously proposed for the site as part of a public-private plan to redevelop the industrial waterfront with commercial, residential and recreational uses. That project was abandoned in June after opponents persuaded the Legislature to block it.

Leaders of the recently formed group Save Our Kewalo Basin said remaining fishing structures on the site should be preserved because of their historic relevance to Hawai'i's sampan fleet that emerged at Kewalo.

"It's all we have left," said Save Our Kewalo Basin organizer Michelle Matson. "The rest has been torn down."

Historic Preservation Division administrator Melanie Chinen in an April 3 letter to the group said the building and ice chute deserve preservation as contributing elements to a culturally significant site of Hawai'i's history.

"We believe that the remnants of this overlooked way of life that lasted for more than 70 years deservedly should be preserved," Chinen said in the letter.

After an April 26 site visit, Chinen in a May 10 letter informed interested parties that the division would not oppose demolishing the building because extensive modifications had destroyed the building's integrity. Instead, the division required photographic documentation of the structure to record the site's history.

The ice chute is to be carefully dismantled so that it can be reconstructed for possible future display in the area along with an information plaque to commemorate the early beginnings of Hawai'i's commercial fishing operations.

Save Our Kewalo Basin has proposed restoring the building and ice chute in place for use as a small fishing museum. Matson said the group delivered a restoration plan on Aug. 9 to Peter Young, Department of Land and Natural Resources chairman and state Historic Preservation Officer, but received no direct response.

Young could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Ted Liu, director of the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, said he offered the building to its previous owner, GRG Enterprise, at Young's suggestion, and about two weeks ago extended the invitation to Matson.

Matson said the building along with the ice chute and adjacent pier and cove are integral elements of the site's historical significance that should not be separated.

"To remove the building and ice chute from their historic location that served the fishing boats at the cove would be to destroy the historic character and integrity of this site," she said.

Matson said there should be no rush to demolish the building because there are no immediate development plans for the site. She added that she hopes to arrange a meeting with Gov. Linda Lingle to discuss the issue.

Commercial fishing operations were established at Kewalo Basin in 1929, and anchored by wooden sampans employing pole-and-line gear. Today only one Hawai'i sampan, the Kula Kai, remains of the vessels based on a design from Japan adapted by local boat builders for Hawai'i's rough seas.

According to Save Our Kewalo Basin, the fishing support building was once the domain of a caretaker in charge of provisions including ice, fuel, bait and other equipment.

According to the state, the top floor of the building is a World War II-era military barracks moved to the Kewalo site from Iolani School grounds in the 1950s. Later the building was elevated to create a ground-floor addition. The Historic Preservation Division considers only the upper level as historically significant.

In recent years, the building had been used as a classroom and fishing gear storage by Kewalo Keiki Fishing Conservancy, a nonprofit that runs a fish education and tagging program for children.

The program was suspended this year because of nearby road reconstruction, and HCDA offered use of a fishing net shed on the other side of Kewalo Harbor where there are bathrooms, water and electricity.

Scotty Furushima, the program's executive director, said the alternate site isn't attractive because of competing park users and pier space. "The program is very site dependent," he said.

The state Health Department has found some subsurface contaminants on the property including lead, arsenic and petroleum-related products, and has advised against public use of the property without cleanup that could be done without demolishing the building and ice chute.

The Hawai'i Community Development Authority said the best way to clean up the site, avoid potential state liability and provide the best future redevelopment options is to demolish the building and remove the ice chute.

"The HCDA is committed to preserving the historic significance of the site, celebrating the rich fishing heritage of the Islands; however, due to the agency's determination based on public health and safety determinations, the demolition must proceed," the agency said in a statement.

Reach Andrew Gomes at agomes@honoluluadvertiser.com.