Queen Theater rally to push restoration
The old Queen Theater has deteriorated since its abandonment, and the Friends of the Queen Theater want it refurbished.
The sign, above, of the old Queen Theater is a landmark in Kaimuki. The building, above left, has deteriorated since its abandonment, and the Friends of the Queen Theater want it refurbished.
The 75th anniversary of the Queen Theater will be celebrated today by an organization that wants to rally the community to restore it to its bygone resplendence.
The 850-seat theater, with a full stage, has been largely vacant for more than 25 years.
The Friends of the Queen Theater will host a community commemoration today. The Lions Club will join at 7:30 a.m. for a sidewalk cleanup, and at 10 a.m. volunteers will do landscaping work around the theater at the corner of Waialae Avenue and Center Street.
Model Cars Magazine editor Gregg Hutchings will park classic cars there throughout the day for picture-taking.
The Friends of the Queen Theater will record people’s memories of the theater and sell T-shirts.
It isn’t clear whether any of the community support will result in a change in the theater’s status.
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Mike Kratzke, who represents building owner Narciso Yu, said in a statement Friday that Yu "has always had a vision to restore the Queen to her full potential." Kratzke didn’t say whether Yu has definite plans for restoring the building or the funds to do so.
Nothing is for certain, said Scott Foster, communications director for the Queen Theater Restoration Project, "but everybody involved wants to see the theater restored and functioning with the caveat that everybody’s got to understand, that it’s got to have a bottom line. How we arrive at that, that’s what we’ve got to talk with the community about."
A veteran of the Hawaii Theatre restoration, Foster believes the Queen Theater will not require the $21 million that was poured into the Hawaii Theatre Center over a decade to bring it back to life.
Built in 1936 on a 10,396-square-foot parcel of prime Waialae Avenue real estate near the top of the hill, the Queen Theater grew to two stories and went from a neighborhood movie house to a porno theater to the place where people would go to watch "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" while dressing in full cult-following regalia.
The theater has not yet been declared safe for people to walk around in, but the lobby has been cleared.
