Aliiolani Hale

Aliʻiōlani Hale is a building located in downtown Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, currently used as the home of the Hawaiʻi State Supreme Court. It is the former seat of government of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi and the Republic of Hawaiʻi.Located in the building's courtyard is the famed gold-leaf statue of Kamehameha the Great.Design and historyThe Aliʻiōlani Hale was designed by Australian Thomas Rowe in an Italian Renaissance Revival as the royal palace for King Kamehameha V. In the Hawaiian language, Aliʻiōlani Hale means "House of Heavenly Kings". The name "Aliʻiōlani" was also one of the given names of Kamehameha V.Although the building was designed to be a palace, Kamehameha V realized that the Hawaiian government desperately needed a government building. At that time, the several buildings in Honolulu used by the government were very small and cramped, clearly inadequate for the growing Hawaiian government. Thus, when Kamehameha V ordered construction of Aliʻiōlani Hale, he commissioned it as a government office building instead of a palace.Kamehameha V laid the cornerstone for the building on February 19, 1872. He died before the building was completed, and it was dedicated in 1874 by one of his successors, King David Kalākaua. At the time, Hawaiian media criticized the building's extravagant design, suggesting that the building be converted into a palace as originally designed.