Kahala 8 theaters to reopen this year
Consolidated Theatres' eight-screen multiplex at Kahala Mall will reopen by the end of the year, the company announced yesterday.
"We expect to start construction within the next three to four weeks," said Jody Shiroma, Consolidated's local spokeswoman.
The theaters have been idle since a March 31 torrent of water broke through a mall doorway and burst through theater walls, flooding cinemas and inundating the rest of the mall -- sending moviegoers, employees and shoppers scrambling to escape.
Kahala Mall General Manager Ron Yoda could not be reached for comment. Scott Creel, regional manager for MMI Realty, which manages Kahala Mall and Pearlridge Center, deferred questions to Yoda.
No damage estimate was released by the mall or its major tenants, but Yoda told the Star-Bulletin in April that of all the mall tenants, the theaters were hardest hit by the flood. Of the eight theaters, 6, 7 and 8 suffered the most damage.
Some tenants, such as Macy's, were able to open for business the next day, while others took several days. Some merchants estimated they had lost 15 percent of their monthly revenues from the flood.
As of April 16, more than two weeks after the flood, California-based theater publicist Rachel Saunders said 21 of the 28 Kahala 8 employees had been reassigned to other theaters. The rest decided to find other jobs, she said.
In the months after the flood, both Consolidated and its parent company, California-based Pacific Theatres Corp., released little information about the Kahala complex.
The Consolidated Web site indicates that the Kahala 8 theaters are "temporarily closed" and directs moviegoers to its other nearby facilities.
In November 2003, Consolidated announced plans to exit the movie exhibition business in Hawaii, choosing instead to convert some of its heritage properties to retail and restaurant use or sell off theaters, such as its flagship Ward 16 property.
Consolidated once had a movie monopoly in the market, until competitors such as Wallace Theatre Corp. and Signature Theatres, with its stadium-style seating, entered the island screening scene.