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Gartley Hall, the second oldest building on the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa campus, received a new lease on life after a 14 million dollar renovation was completed in 2014.

Part of the historic quadrangle where the development of the Mānoa campus originally started, Gartley Hall, built in 1921, is on the Hawaiʻi Register of Historic Places. The renovation of the 24,480 square foot, three-level structure, followed preservation guidelines to minimize the impact to the historic features of the building.

The University of Hawaiʻi ʻohana celebrated the Gartley Hall reopening at a blessing ceremony held on Thursday, November 6, 2014.

As noted in a November blessing ceremony, Gartley Hall is also a model in sustainability for features that include photovoltaic panels, a solar tube system that provides natural lighting and Energy Star lighting and equipment.

“We can be proud that today’s event celebrates the modernization of instructional and office facilities in an energy efficient, sustainable manner. And we have a LEED Silver Certificate to prove it,” said Robert Bley-Vroman, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa interim chancellor. “A great accomplishment and a model for our renovations of our future.”

The Gartley renovation is another example of the University of Hawaiʻi’s commitment to creating 21st Century Facilities that are safe, sustainable and supportive of modern practices in teaching, learning and research.

Gartley Hall is home to the UH Mānoa School of Social Work, named in honor of Myron B. Thompson, a noted humanitarian and a leader in the preservation of the Hawaiian culture.

“Pinky Thompson for us was a man who was a representation of all the goodness in mankind. He really was. He lived that everyday,” said son Myron Thompson.

“The commitment to social justice and education runs deep in the genealogy of the Thompson ʻohana,” said School of Social Work Dean Noreen Mokuau. “It also flows in the genealogy of the faculty, staff, students and community partners in the Myron B. Thompson School of Social Work.”

The school is nationally recognized and accredited and offers bachelors, masters and PhD programs. Mokuau stated that the School of Social Work is committed to the advancement of social work and the achievement of social justice through strategic priorities of community engagement, the utilization of technology for cutting edge education and teaching global social justice in a Hawaiian place of learning.

View photos on the University of Hawaiʻi Flickr site.

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