Moanalua Gardens Foundation, Inc.
Heirs of the Samuel Mills Damon Estate, owners of Moanalua Valley, formed Moanalua Gardens Foundation in 1970. The estate initially agreed with the state’s plans to construct H-3 through the valley, but later they had second thoughts and decided to create a park and botanical garden in the valley.
Attorney Boyce Brown, who also represented the Stop H-3 Association, served as legal counsel for the foundation in lawsuits to stop construction of the freeway. The foundation joined the first lawsuit against H-3 (Stop H-3 Association v. Volpe) as an intervenor.
To preserve the valley, in 1973 the foundation applied to the US Department of the Interior (DOI) to have Moanalua Valley placed on the National Register of Historic Places. The State of Hawaiʻi fought the designation because it would eliminate Moanalua Valley from the possible routes of the H-3 freeway and therefore the state would be unable to complete the freeway by a 1979 deadline.
On July 26, 1973, Pohaku ka Luahine and other pre-colonial Hawaiian cultural sites of Moanalua were entered into the National Register of Historic Places. The Secretary of the Interior determined in 1974 that Moanalua Valley was eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places. The state continued to argue that there was no acceptable alternative to the Moanalua route. However, in 1977 the Secretary of Transportation directed the state to explore alternatives, and the state subsequently abandoned the Moanalua route.