In a bid to attract more young people, offer more programs and modernize, Kawaiaha'o Church will kick off construction next week of a $14.5 million multipurpose center, which will sit next to its 165-year-old landmark sanctuary.

"We want to look to the future," said Kahu Curt Kekuna, senior minister at Kawaiaha'o. "Buildings are buildings. But what they provide, what they do, that's what matters."

Kawaiaha'o, the first church built on O'ahu when it was completed in 1842, has been called the "Westminster Abbey of the Pacific." It is the final resting place of King William Charles Lunalilo, and is on the national and state registers of historic places. But today only about 500 people attend the church — one-fourth of the congregation in the 1950s and '60s.

And that's something this project — the most ambitious in the history of the church — is intended to help address.

The 30,000-square-foot, two-story multipurpose center will have a social hall, meeting rooms, offices and a kitchen. The center will be built using environmentally friendly standards, and have state-of-the-art equipment for social gatherings and learning.

It will open as early as fall 2008.

Kawaiaha'o Church has about 450 congregation members.

At a ceremony at the church yesterday to commemorate the construction of the new center, and thank God for the use of the two buildings that will be torn down, members recalled the days when the church used to attract some 2,000 people.

"The church needs to reach out to the bigger community," said Valerie Trotter, co-chair of a capital campaign committee for the center. She said she is hopeful the new construction will bring younger faces to the church, who will hopefully stay with the church as they age.

Officials said the new building is designed to complement — not overshadow — the coral stone Kawaiaha'o Church.

"The goal (for the multipurpose building) was to keep a low profile so that it wouldn't compete with the main sanctuary," said architect Franklin Wong, who designed the multipurpose center.

The center also is meant to complement the services held inside the church, with outreach to youth and more programs for the needy.

"We look forward to the new facilities, which will better enable Kawaiaha'o Church to carry out its mission and serve ... constituencies more effectively," Kekuna said.

Construction of the new multipurpose center comes as traditional churches across the globe are scrambling to modernize and offer more programs to attract young people.

"Mainline churches are having a hard time," said Dean N. Fujii, associate minister of the United Church of Christ Hawai'i Conference, which has more than 100 members.

Fujii also pointed out that Kawaiaha'o Church, a part of the conference, is one of dozens of churches in the Islands working hard to "speak to and relate to a younger generation."

Planning for the multipurpose center started in 2002, and a fundraising drive kicked off about a year ago. So far, the church has raised about $7 million for the center, and is still seeking donations.

Once the center is completed, the church plans to renovate the preschool at the site and finish renovation of a basement at the church, which will have space for dance and choir classes.

Two existing buildings will be demolished to make way for the state-of-the-art center, but the landmark church will be untouched.

Crews expect to start demolition Monday.

The multipurpose center will have more than twice the square footage of the two buildings that will be torn down, but its footprint will be almost the same. The center will not encroach on the cemetery at the church, or disrupt the existing preschool.

Still, Kekuna said crews expect to find iwi, or ancient bones, during construction and there is a comprehensive plan and committee in place to respectfully handle the remains. The two buildings to be torn down, he said, were built on known Hawaiian graves.

In addition to forming the Na Iwi Committee — made up of congregation members and cultural experts — the church has hired a firm to advise the church on proper Native Hawaiian practices. Cultural Surveys Hawai'i also is working with Kawaiaha'o.

Reach Mary Vorsino at mvorsino@honoluluadvertiser.com.