The Navy renovated historic Building 251/252 for continued use as offices for COMPACFLT.
Building 251/252, Pearl Harbor
High on the rim of Makalapa Crater sits Building 251/ 252, where the Joint Intelligence Center Pacific Ocean Areas (JICPOA) collected, evaluated, and disseminated strategic and tactical intelligence for the Commander in Chief, Pacific Ocean Areas, throughout World War II. Five decades later, the building was in need of more than a simple renovation. Part of its foundation, built on fill, was gradually sinking into the Crater when Mason Architects, working with general contractor Nan, Inc., was commissioned to design its renovation and oversee its reconstruction.
Compaction grouting was used to stabilize the soil beneath the building.
New concrete and masonry foundation walls and new plywood shearwalls were then installed to bring the structure up to current seismic code, and a new wood skirt along the perimeter matches the original.
Post-World-War-II additions to the building were removed and the interior was gutted and rebuilt.
Blocked-out windows were reopened, windows added over time were removed, and new fixed-glass windows sized to match the originals were installed in the original window pattern.
Fixed panels above the windows resemble the ventilating panels in the original design.
A frame-and-panel system of wall partitioning used in the original building corridors will be recreated in the VIP lobby.
The renovation won a Historic Preservation Award from the Historic Hawaii Foundation in 2005.
Historic Photo from 14th Naval District, Pearl Harbor.
Building 251 was near completion in this February 19, 1943 photo.
The soil beneath the building was stabilized before the foundation and first floor were rebuilt.
The original window pattern was recreated with new fixed-glass windows that resembled the double-hung windows installed in 1943.
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