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Mililani residents
sound off over
theater neon

A neighborhood board meeting
focuses on a controversial
new theater

By Harold Morse
Star-Bulletin

The pink paint is being muted, but Mililani residents still want the bright lights dimmed at the new movie theater complex in their neighborhood.

The Mililani Town Center Stadium 14-screen theater, with its pink paint and neon lighting, has drawn the ire of some residents who say they don't think the big, bright building fits into their quiet suburban neighborhood.

Some residents brought their complaints to a Castle and Cooke and Consolidated Theatres representative last night at the Mililani Neighborhood Board meeting.

"It glows right into my home," said Elaine Bailey, who lives perhaps 500 feet from the theater. "I open the front door and it's right there -- tower and all, the front structure. I walk into the kitchen and it's right in my kitchen." The theater is not in keeping with Mililani style, she said.

Wesley Inouye, project coordinator for Consolidated Theatres, said repainting already has begun on the original bright pink portion of the exterior. "The paint manufacturer calls the color 'flamboyant,'" he said. The new color is "plum," he added.

"Certainly, Consolidated didn't design the building to offend people in the community," Inouye said. "I guess it's somewhat a matter of taste and opinion," he added. "We certainly wanted to create an attractive, inviting theater. We didn't intend to offend anybody. I can tell you that."

Harry Saunders, executive vice president of Castle and Cooke, Mililani developers, said the brightly lit tower was meant to serve as a beacon. "On balance we also have had a number of people who have told us, 'We love it; don't change it,'" Saunders said.

The neon lights go off sometime between midnight and 1 a.m., Inouye said. Board member Kenneth Stover recommended shutting them off after the last feature begins, say between 9:30 and 10 p.m.

"I don't mind a little neon, but the amount of it is incredible," said board member Terry Kelley.

The neighborhood board last night put off action on a resolution to remove the neon lights, at least from the tower, until their Feb. 23 meeting, when they'll hear more from Castle and Cooke and Consolidated Theatres.