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Monday, January 8, 2001
Views of the Hilton,
then and now
By Dennis Oda, Star-Bulletin
Hilton Hawaiian Village's newest addition, above --
the 25-story, 453-room Kalia Tower -- is scheduled to
be completed in mid-May, with a grand opening in June.
It is going up on the site of the old Hilton Dome, once
the geodesic landmark at the corner of Kalia Road and
Ala Moana. Diamond Head is almost obscured by
the buildings along Waikiki Beach.
By Albert Yamauchi, Star-Bulletin
Here's a shot of the dome in 1961, when there was no
evidence of today's buildings. The Wailana restaurant
and condominium building, for example, now dominates
the spot that was once occupied by the popular Kapiolani
Drive Inn in the foreground. KDI was demolished in 1968.
1961Hawaii Newspaper Agency
The January 1961 Hawaii Newspaper Agency aerial photo,
below, shows even more dramatically how Waikiki has
changed in 40 years. The Ilikai Hotel has yet to occupy
the open space at bottom left, just to the left of the
footprint-shaped lagoon.
Press release, 1963
The Hilton, as well, has undergone dramatic changes.
This 1963 HNA photo, just below, from across the
lagoon shows how low-rise the hotel was in its early
years, with thatched huts reflecting a less hectic era.
Legendary developer Henry J. Kaiser (who built Hawaii
Kai) built his first Hawaii project -- the Hawaiian Village
Hotel -- for $1,143,000 in 1955 (compare that to the
$95 million Kalia Tower and the hotel's Coral Ballroom,
built for $4 million in 1969). Kaiser and his partner Fritz
Burns sold the place to hotel mogul Conrad Hilton in
1961 for $21.5 million.
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© 2001 Honolulu Star-Bulletin
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