Timeless Magic, 1965 - 2015
74 TIMELESS MAGIC M auna Kea Beach Hotel was just the beginning of what Laurance Rockefeller dreamed would one day be the Kohala Coast Resort Region a great park interspersed with resort urban and recreational centers in harmony with the openness and beauty of the natural environment as it was described in a land development plan prepared in 1967 by Belt Collins and Associates Ltd a Honolulu based engineering planning and landscape architecture firm The plan proposed a series of oases surrounding the hotel an area that was then dominated by vast fields of stark lava Rockefeller envisioned homes shops restaurants a helipad and a marina He imagined a vibrant community complete with schools banks churches medical services a cultural center housing offices for archaeological studies and a museum displaying artifacts from the Kohala district To foster performing and visual arts he hoped to build an auditorium with a sound stage for film and television productions and an amphitheater for plays concerts and art exhibits A 500 acre state park would offer cabanas campsites picnic grounds field and court sports an oceanarium and a golf course one of three in addition to the championship course at Mauna Kea Several more hotels would accommodate the anticipated influx of visitors including the hotel that would become Mauna Keas sister hotel on a scenic bluff at the north end of Hāpuna Beach Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel Excited as Rockefeller was at the prospect of overseeing this plan much of it was not to be In 1978 he sold Mauna Kea Beach Hotel to United Airlines which owned the Western later Westin brand Seibu Inc headed by Yoshiaki Tsutsumi purchased the hotel a decade later Akemi Kurokawa was Seibus president of Hawai i projects Mr Tsutsumi was pleased that the purchase of Mauna Kea came with the idea of a second hotel and he started planning for it a year or two later Kurokawa says Mauna Kea Beach Hotel attracted independent travelers We wanted the new hotel to complement it with facilities for group functions Wimberly Allison Tong Goo a Honolulu architectural firm was hired to fulfill the new owners vision The main goals were to nestle the hotel into the bluff in terraces to meet height restrictions a challenging excavation and to open the expansive lobby and all 350 guest rooms to panoramic ocean views creating a flowing indoor to outdoor feel Shapes and colors were selected to blend with the environment The curves of the swimming pool and entry accents including a 20 foot wide THE VISION EXTENDS BY CHERYL CHEE TSUTSUMI Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel
You must have JavaScript enabled to view digital editions.
