Pago Building

Architects Honour Pago Building

THE Lee Auditorium at Pago Pago and its architects, Wimberly, Whisenand, Allison and Tong of Honolulu, recently received an Honor Award from the American Institute of Architects, Hawaii Chapter, in its annual selection of outstanding Pacific architecture.

This was the first time such an award had been made for a building in the South Pacific.

The Lee Auditorium, commonly known as “The Turtle”, was built for the 1963 South Pacific Con ference in Pago Pago. It can accommodate 800 people, and is used for community activities, meetings, pageants, and dances.

In presenting the award to the architects, the American Institute of Architects jury said: “The design demonstrates the architectural skill in capturing the essence of an indigeneous art form, in this case the traditional fale or long house of Samoa. The jury felt it was difficult to imagine a more appropriate and satisfying solution”.

This was the seventh award for outstanding architectural design received by Wimberly, Whisenand, Allison and Tong. The others have been for buildings in Hawaii.

The firm also designed the apartment units for

government employees and the administration build ing for Pacific Coconut Processing Co. at Pago Pago, and is designing the new hotel now under construc tion in Pago Pago harbour.

The firm’s first assignment in the South Pacific was the Hotel Tahiti at Papeete.

It is now designing a hotel for Yanuca Island, Fiji.