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The Pink Palace of the Pacific shines during her grand reopening gala. |
A grand royal welcome
Revelers raising glasses of pink champagne helped usher in a new era of Waikīkī hospitality at the grand reopening of the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, which first opened its doors in February 1927. Much has changed since that era of Matson liners plying the Pacific to bring in visitors in by the boatload. But one thing remained: Bill Tapia. The 101-year-old 'ukulele virtuoso performed at the hotel's opening 82 years ago and returned to entertain the crowd at the recent gala. The $350 to $1,250 per person event – with a nod to everything pink (even umbrellas) – helped to raise $70,000 for the Rehabilitation Hospital of the Pacific Foundation. Photos by Nicholas Masagatani.
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Starwood Hotels employees Louellen Kaneshiro, Monica Schwartzman, June Sundberg, Stephanie Reid and Kayla Sakumoto. |
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'Ukulele virtuoso Bill Tapia and Peter Apo (not shown) close out the night's entertainment with the 101-year-old Tapia singing his rendition of "Little Grass Shack" and Apo singing a new original composition of Bill's titled "Mākaha Valley." Apo said that Tapia recently bought a home in Mākaha Valley and when the loan officer offered Tapia a five-year variable mortgage, he replied, "No, I want it 30 years, fixed!" |
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OHA's own Malia Schneider with friends Tatiana Kern and Jasmine Ornellas. |
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Hula dancers from Tihati Productions Ltd. entertain the crowd. |
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Gwen Frisbee, Norma Powers, Jeff Apaka, and Gina Kawānanakoa, seated. Apaka made his musical debut in the Monarch Room of the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, following in the footsteps of his father, Alfred Apaka, a Hawaiian music icon who entertained nightly in the Monarch Room. |
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Miss Hawai'i 2008 Nicole Fox, Dr. Alvin Chung, Former Miss Hawai'i USA 2005 Jennifer Fairbank, current Miss Hawai'i USA Aureana Tseu and Roycen Dehmer. |
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Rob Iopa and wife Rachelle with Michael Canonizado at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel's grand reopening gala. Rob Iopa is also a co-owner of the hotel's new Mea Makamae a Hawaiian Treasure store, which sells museum-quality art, including prized Ni'ihau shell lei like one Canonizado wears. The Iopas are expecting their second son in June. |
Building on culture
As president and principal of WCIT Architecture, Rob Iopa is used to having his name attached to high-profile multimillion-dollar resort projects. But he had a date with history on his last assignment: lead architect for the renovations of the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, which sits upon Helumoa, a favorite residence of Hawai'i's ali'i.
"It was truly an honor to have worked on that project. … Being able to influence something that sits on the land that was the first (capital) of the Kingdom of Hawai'i that Kamehameha lived on and that still sits in ali'i hands is really an opportunity that many people never get," says Iopa, of the land that was willed to the Kamehameha Schools by Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop. Helumoa is also the site of the royal grove where 10,000 coconut trees once stood.
The "driving force" behind WCIT is to infuse culture into architecture, says Iopa, a Native Hawaiian from Hilo whose firm earned $17.3 million in 2008. Even so, he says, there's an "embedded tension" between his ancestry and his profession. "To a certain extent my profession is one that looks to build; in many cases, as a Hawaiian I would look to preserve," he says. "At the same time there is a realization that some things will happen with or without me."
The choices that his firm made at the Royal, such as giving partially diseased coconut trees from the royal grove new life through the masterful hands of pahu makers and bringing more Hawaiians into the Royal through cultural programs designed into the hotel – are the kinds of differences he can make as a Native Hawaiian architect, he says.
"When we start dealing with the Royal Hawaiian and start looking at the history and culture in these very important areas, how can you not get excited about that right?" asks Iopa, who happened to turn 40 the day of the Royal's grand reopening gala. "There is a passion that has been instilled and is still burgeoning in our architecture."
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