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MIKE LAURETA / SPECIAL TO THE STAR-ADVERTISER
Firefighters from the Kalaheo station joined the effort to extinguish the Coco Palms Resort fire Friday.
The cause of the fire at the shuttered Coco Palms Resort on Kauai has been classified as undetermined and the case remains under investigation, according to Kauai County spokeswoman Sarah Blane.
The blaze broke out at about noon on the Fourth of July and was not completely extinguished until two days later. Excavators demolished the hotel’s main lobby that was destroyed in the fire.
Damage is estimated at $600,000.
The Coco Palms shut its doors due to extensive damage following Hurricane Iniki that plowed across Kauai in September 1992.
Developers wants to rebuild the hotel and announced plans to reopen in 2017 under Hyatt Hotels’ management. Coco Palms Hui LLC is seeking $125 million in financing to acquire the land and renovate the iconic hotel.
Elvis Presley filmed the wedding scene of the “Blue Hawaii” movie at the Coco Palms in 1961 and sang “The Hawaiian Wedding Song” there. The hotel was originally built in 1953 on grounds that were once the home of Deborah Kapule Kekaiha’akulou, Kauai’s last reigning queen.
