When David Cheever arrived in Hawai'i in the 1960s, the charm of Honolulu's Chinatown was elusive at best.

Dilapidated buildings. Prostitution. Bars you wouldn't enter without a few buddies.

"It was a scary place," says Cheever, who along with Nancy Bannick and Scott Cheever worked on the new book "A Close Call: Saving Honolulu's Chinatown" (published by the Hawaii Architectural Foundation and Historic Hawaii Foundation; $16.95).

"There were a lot of people who would never go near (Chinatown)," he says. "Saturday was a great day to do produce shopping — and it remains so — but that was the only time we felt safe."

Cheever wasn't alone in his estimation. Chinatown, its cultural significance marred by crime and rotting tenements, was among several areas of old Honolulu targeted for radical redevelopment in the '60s by the federally financed Honolulu Redevelopment Agency.

And yet, as Cheever and other residents new and old understood, Chinatown and its surrounding areas were also vibrant cultural centers, with unique buildings that represented histories of commerce and community life.

Those living histories just happened to lay in the path of bulldozers and wrecking balls.

Just how different Honolulu might now be, had the agency's intentions been realized, remains a mystery thanks, in no small part, to Bannick, a former Hawai'i editor for Sunset magazine and a devoted preservationist.

As a member of the Honolulu Chamber of Commerce's City Beautification Committee (founded by Alfred Preis, architetural designer of the Arizona Memorial), Bannick researched architectural and historical landmarks of the Kukui and 'A'ala Triangle and interviewed business owners and residents who were being forced out.

When her pleas to save the area's historic buildings went unheeded, Bannick went to Honolulu Advertiser editor George Chaplin, who tapped Bannick for a weeklong series of stories. Reader response was so strong that the series continued for another week and sparked a one-hour TV show on urban renewal.

Bannick's crusade would continue through the 1960s and '70s. She and other preservationists helped to galvanize support among business and land owners, community leaders, politicians and cultural organizations to limit high-rise development, save historic buildings (as well as community institutions like the Oahu Market), and retain the cultural identity of the area.

"It was a great example of how an individual, with nothing to gain from it, was able to tap interests in the community, the media and business to get something done," says David Cheever. "She single-handedly saved the darn thing."

Cheever, 67, first got the idea of doing a Chinatown book while working on an earlier project, the award-winning "Pohaku: The Art & Architecture of Stonework in Hawai'i," to which Bannick had contributed several sections.

Cheever originally envisioned a historical overview of the neighborhood, but the book evolved into a story about how the area was saved, and how its present and future is unfolding.

The story is told with a direct charm, not just in the narrative but in scores of black-and-white and color photos.

The slim paperback's many historic images include the rows of buildings along Nu'uanu Avenue that were destroyed in the great fire of 1886, and the crowded single-wall cluster houses along Waikahalulu Lane in 1963.

More recent photos include colorful shots of night life in the Honolulu Culture and Arts District, many by book designer Michel Le and photographer Olivier Koning.

In addition to the story of Bannick's crusade, the book offers brief profiles on architectural designer Alfred Preis, state archivist Agnes Conrad, honorary mayor of Chinatown Sunny Wong and other key figures in Chinatown's preservation.

It also looks at the groundwork laid by Dorothy Riconda Pyle and Bob Fox of the state Historic Preservation Office to document Chinatown's historic sites as worthy of protection under provisions of the Hawai'i Register of Historic Places.

Once significant structures were protected, property owners and developers had a stake in restoring and redeveloping Chinatown in a way that helped preserve its nature.

"It was the preservationists bringing to the attention of government and the community that this was an area worthy of saving that made for a much more positive environment for me and other private investors," said developer Bob Gerell, who was responsible for building Maunakea Marketplace and several other projects in the area.

The book makes note of early investments in the area by artists Ramsay (with husband Norman Goldstein) and Pegge Hopper —whose galleries led the way for a later wave of arts and culture venues in Chinatown and nearby areas — and offers different perspectives on the controversial high-rise developments that sprung up in the 1980s.

A survey of recent activity highlights the decades-long struggle to save and restore the Hawai'i Theatre, the creation of the Honolulu Culture & Arts District, the growing popularity of monthly First Friday events, and the constantly resurrected talk of loft developments.

With gentrification has come what some consider a significant split along racial, cultural and ethnic lines within the neighborhood, and continued debates over the best nature of future enterprise.

"The boundaries have changed," says honorary mayor Wong, in the book. "The people who eat potatoes (Nu'uanu/ Bethel) have a lifestyle that isn't compatible with the people who eat rice.

"The real Chinatown must have the tastes, smells, sounds and appearance of Chinatown," Wong says. "Chinatown has divided again based on different priorities, and the Chinese side won't come over to the Nu'uanu/Bethel side. It's a different class of people. And new immigrants aren't accustomed to the Western world."

Says Cheever: "Not everybody agrees that the area should be gentrified, and not everybody thinks that a cultural district should be a cultural district. I wanted those views to be expressed. I'd like to see more of a discussion about, 'Hey, did we do good?' "

It's an important question, Cheever says, and one that needs to be addressed as the district continues to evolve.

"Preservation is about keeping Hawai'i Hawai'i," Cheever says. "We're becoming more like the Mainland all the time," he says. "But we're not Canton, Ohio, or Dallas, Texas, or Los Angeles. When we preserve our heritage, we keep us Hawai'i."

The book was underwritten in large part by the Strong Foundation, and all proceeds support the Historic Hawaii Foundation.

Reach Michael Tsai at mtsai@honoluluadvertiser.com.