The wind went out of its sails long ago. Now the nautical-looking building that was home to the Fisherman’s Wharf restaurant at Kewalo Basin for more than 50 years is headed for the boneyard.
The state Office of Hawaiian Affairs, which owns the former restaurant property, issued an invitation for bids Thursday to demolish or deconstruct the two-story building overlooking the small-boat harbor in Kakaako.
OHA intends to develop the prime waterfront site in the coming years and wants to remove the old restaurant building now in part because it’s become something of an eyesore and is too costly to rehabilitate for interim use.
For some longtime customers and employees, the impending destruction of the building is churning up fond memories and a sense of loss even though the restaurant has been shuttered since 2009.
"It’s really sad," said Chantal Weaver, whose father, Spence, established the Spencecliff Corp. chain of more than 50 Hawaii restaurants with his brother Clifton.
The chain included the Tahitian Lanai, Trader Vic’s, Coco’s, Kelly’s, Queen’s Surf, Senor Popo’s and Ranch House to name a few.
Fisherman’s Wharf, which opened in 1952, was one of Spencecliff’s most successful restaurants — and was the last to close.
Tom Stewart, a manager at Fisherman’s Wharf in 1975, said the atmosphere including the Snug Harbor Bar and a choice harbor view from the second-story "Captain’s Bridge" helped draw in local customers as well as visitors who arrived via tour bus.
"We were just knocking it out," he said, recalling that serving 500 lunches a day was common.
Among fond memories Weaver recalled about Fisherman’s Wharf was its seafood stew, a treasure chest of toys for kids, waitstaff sailor uniforms and a big fish that lived a long time in an aquarium on the second floor.
"I grew up in the restaurants," she said. "They were like second homes to me."
OHA is considering holding an auction of memorabilia from Fisherman’s Wharf and intends to save the large neon sign atop the building. Beyond that, however, the agency doesn’t expect there to be much in the way of historic value to the building.
A meeting does need to be arranged to discuss demolition with the State Historic Preservation Division of the Department of Land and Natural Resources, and it’s possible that some mitigation or documentation could be recommended.
Deconstructing the building to salvage and recycle certain parts could be twice as costly as demolition, but if a bidder sees added value in deconstruction, then it might benefit OHA, according to Allen Kam, OHA’s commercial property manager.
"What we’re looking at is the best value," Kam told OHA trustees at a Thursday board meeting.
If clearance is given by the historic preservation agency along with other city and state permits or clearances, demolition or deconstruction work could proceed by July, Kam estimated.
OHA has owned the site since 2012 and is working to create a long-range redevelopment plan for the site along with eight other parcels in Kakaako makai of Ala Moana Boulevard that it accepted from the state as payment for disputed past ceded-land revenue valued at $200 million.
Interim uses of the restaurant building have been explored before but were derailed by costly rehab needs stemming from years of deferred maintenance.
Spencecliff sold its restaurants to Japanese-based Nittaku Investment Inc. in 1986 under financial pressure stemming in large part from high interest rates and rising ground lease rents.
Nittaku could not keep afloat what was then a collection of 26 restaurants. Despite Fisherman’s Wharf once being the biggest moneymaker in the chain, the new owner was discouraged from reinvesting in the property because the state-owned land under the restaurant was intended for redevelopment by the Hawaii Community Development Authority, a state agency overseeing development in Kakaako.
In 1999 the restaurant flirted with closing to make way for a redevelopment plan by D.G. "Andy" Anderson that included a retail complex and a Ferris wheel. That plan got rejected after an initial HCDA approval, but Fisherman’s Wharf remained on short-term ground leases with HCDA.
Around 2004 Nittaku turned part of the restaurant into a bar and lounge called The Living Room at the Wharf, then closed everything for good in 2009 after HCDA sought a long-term tenant willing to renovate and lease the building.
The owner of Pizza Bob’s in Haleiwa, Bob Lee, submitted a high bid in early 2010 for a potentially 15-year lease and intended to open an upscale restaurant above a ground-floor casual restaurant.
However, Lee backed out of the deal in late 2010 after concluding that it would be too costly to upgrade the building, which needs plumbing work and installation of grease traps and an elevator, among other improvements.
Stewart, the former Fisherman’s Wharf manager, was sorry to see the building sit for so long and deteriorate.
"It’s kind of sad," he said. "It was a great place to work. It had a great feeling."
