An archaeological consultant warned Kawaiaha'o Church more than four years ago that construction on the church's $17.5 million multipurpose center could unearth human remains.

Kawaiaha'o, one of the state's oldest and most recognized churches, halted work on the two-story center in March after unearthing 69 remains, most of which were intact coffin burials.

In an April 2005 report obtained by The Advertiser, the church's consultant, Cultural Surveys Hawai'i Inc., urged Kawaiaha'o officials to conduct a subsurface archaeological study for iwi, or bones, and other cultural artifacts before building the two-story complex.

The church opted not to conduct the study and began construction of a 30,000-square-foot building this year on the makai side of the church. The building was to replace the 67-year-old Likeke Hall, which was demolished in 2007.

The consultant's 58-page report documents century-old burials on the Kawaiaha'o Church property, including many in the area of the new multipurpose center. It included a 1912 and 1920 land survey for the church that showed the boundaries of all burial plots.

"Cultural Surveys Hawai'i Inc. ... has proposed excavating five test trenches around Likeke Hall before construction begins, so that the presence or absence of cultural deposits and/or human burials can be determined," the report said.

One of the co-authors of the report, David Shideler, issued a follow-up warning about two years later just as the church was demolishing its old Likeke Hall complex to make way for the new center, according to internal church e-mails obtained by The Advertiser.

"Of course I hope I am wrong, but I do however believe there is a significant probability that iwi will be encountered by the end of demolition of the Likeke Hall foundations," Shideler said in a Dec. 6, 2007, e-mail to church consultants.

Several days later, bone fragments were found at the demolition site, according to a Dec. 11, 2007, e-mail from Shideler to church officials and consultants. The discovery of more bones would follow.

The Kawaiaha'o iwi discovery is one of the largest on O'ahu, exceeding those found at Wal-Mart's Ke'eau-moku location and the Ward Village Shops in Kaka'ako whose building plans were delayed for months.

A second church consultant recently told state officials that another 83 remains — in addition to the 69 already found — may still be beneath the site of the new building, making the site one of the largest graveyard intrusions on O'ahu.

MORE THAN EXPECTED

Dawn Chang, a cultural consultant for the church, said the 2005 study isn't applicable today because it was for a previous construction plan that called for a large underground parking lot. The project has been scaled back significantly since and does not include the parking lot, she said.

Chang said the church anticipated unearthing remains but not in such great numbers.

"I don't think anybody today is going to say we didn't expect to find bones," Chang said. "We just didn't expect to find this many."

Chang said that many of the bones were discovered after construction workers dug utility and foundation trenches.

Church officials said that the church has gone through extraordinary lengths to contact the families of those buried in the cemetery and have taken great care in the handling of the iwi.

Several Hawaiian cultural leaders said the church should have expected to find a large number of remains during construction since the Kaka'ako area is well-known for having old graveyards.

Mel Kalahiki, a Native Hawaiian kupuna, recalled seeing a lot of graves unearthed at Kawaiaha'o in the 1940s when the church was building Likeke Hall. He said it didn't surprise him that iwi were found during the recent construction.

In 1940, Kawaiaha'o officials disinterred 117 bodies at a construction site to make way for Likeke Hall. The remains were later reburied in Mo'ili'ili and then returned to the southwest side of the Kawaiaha'o property in 1968.

"They were going to find plenty graves," Kalahiki said.

LEGAL THREAT

Established in 1820, Kawaiaha'o Church is on the national and state registers of historic places and is the final resting place of King William Charles Lunalilo.

The new multipurpose center will include classrooms, conference rooms, a $1 million kitchen, state-of-the-art solar panels and a space that can be used for wedding receptions.

Church officials, who said they expected to complete construction by June 2010, have said the center is necessary to expand its membership, which has declined to about 500 — or about a quarter of its congregation during the 1950s and 1960s.

The unearthed remains have attracted the attention of Campbell Estate heiress Abigail Kawananakoa, who has threatened Kawaiaha'o's leadership with legal action.

An archaeological consultant hired by Kawananakoa recently concluded that the church's construction work has encroached on the burial plot of Kawananakoa's ancestor, Queen Kapi'olani.

Tom Dye believes the church's building plans made it inevitable that bones would be unearthed.

In an 11-page report, Dye concluded that the church's contractors dug five foot-deep trenches within the boundary lines of Kapi'olani's burial plot.

Dye, a past president of the Society for Hawaiian Archaeology, said his report is based on the 1912 and 1920 surveys by the church that details the locations of burial remains, his own examination of the church property, grading and trenching permits submitted to the city Building Department and other church documents.

He noted that Chang told the O'ahu Burial Council in February that trenches had been dug and remains had been removed from Kapi'olani's plot.

But Chang said that a more recent study using global positioning satellite technology shows that the Kapi'olani parcel had not been disturbed.

Chang would not provide a copy of the GPS study. A church spokesman said the GPS study would reveal information about families and their relatives who are in the cemetery, which the church cannot make public.

However, Dye said he reviewed the GPS map and compared it to the actual excavations. He said the location of the burial finds on the church's GPS map were off by as much as 30 feet, which is 50 to 100 times the acceptable margin of error in archeological studies.

Dye said that one of the unearthed burial locations identified in the church's GPS map was actually "in an area covered by grass lawn and a few grave headstones today, with no signs of recent excavation."

"It's clear to me that they planned to dig trenches straight across the Kapi'olani plot," Dye said.

FAMILY SUPPORTIVE

Dye added that the church's city permit applications also called for the construction of an industrial grease interceptor just makai of the planned multipurpose center.

According to the church's plans, the grease trap would be located on two burial mounds between the new center and Kapi'olani's burial plot.

A 1912 survey of old burials shows that the plot where the grease trap is to go is owned by the Pilali family.

Don Caindec, the church's project director, acknowledged plans to build a grease trap next to the new center. But he said the area to be used for the trap had been paved over and used as a parking lot for many years, and the church hadn't expected to find any remains below the paved portion.

Caindec and Chang, the cultural consultant, said the church has contacted the Pilali family, who have been supportive of Kawaiaha'o's efforts. They said that the family has asked the church to relocate the remains should any be found.

Caindec added that the church has no plans to relocate the grease trap.

"We did not plan to build over their burials," Chang said.