Widespread blackout includes Ala Moana Center, Ward theaters
CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARADVERTISER.COM
Ala Moana Center was one of 510 Hawaiian Electric Co. customers affected by blackout from in the Kakaako-Ward-Ala Moana area Friday evening.
CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARADVERTISER.COM
Ala Moana Center was one of about 510 Hawaiian Electric Co. customers affected by blackout from in the Kakaako-Ward-Ala Moana area Friday evening.
COURTESY ATSUSHI TAKEBAYASHI
People stand outside Consolidated Theatres Ward 16 after a power outage hit the area.
A pair of outages knocked out power to 510 Hawaiian Electric Co. customers in the Ala Moana and Kakaako areas Friday night, including parts of Ala Moana Center and the Consolidated Theatres Ward 16 movie complex.
The disruption came at a most inopportune time for hundreds of people who had flocked to the theaters for the debut of the much-anticipated “Star Wars: The Last Jedi.”
Atsushi Takebayashi, 61, of Hawaii Kai was in the audience for the 4:50 p.m. showing of the film in 3-D. With about an hour left in the 2-hour, 33-minute film, the screen went black and the theater’s emergency lights turned on, Takebayashi said.
“I waited there hoping that the movie would come back on but then an usher came and told us that we had to evacuate,” Takebayashi said. “People were understanding and they knew what to do so it was O.K.”
The evacuated movie-goers were told to return on Saturday to claim their refunds, he said.
Ward Theatres and the surrounding Kakaako area is currently without power. At this time we do not have any updates from @hawaiianelectric on when it will be restored. #oahuoutage
— ConsolidatedTheatres (@ConsolidatedHI) December 16, 2017
[part 2 re: power outage] If you have tickets for shows tonight, please hold on to your confirmation and bring it down to the theatre at a later time. We will accommodate you in a future show. #oahuoutage
— ConsolidatedTheatres (@ConsolidatedHI) December 16, 2017
[part 3 re: power outage] If you were evacuated, please hold on to your ticket stubs so we can honor those for a future show. We are very sorry for this inconvenience, especially for all Star Wars fans. We appreciate your understanding and will keep you updated. #oahuoutage
— ConsolidatedTheatres (@ConsolidatedHI) December 16, 2017
POWER HAS BEEN RESTORED AT WARD THEATRES! Our team is currently working to get our doors back open as quickly as possible. Mahalo for your patience and understanding. #oahuoutage
— ConsolidatedTheatres (@ConsolidatedHI) December 16, 2017
Takebayashi said Ward Center, across the street, was not affected.
A Hawaii National Guard ball with more than 1,000 attendees at the Hawai’i Convention Center was interrupted by the blackout for nearly two hours starting at about 6:15 p.m.
The outage also clogged traffic throughout the Kakaako and Ala Moana areas.
Hawaiian Electric officials said in a tweet at about 8:20 p.m. that power was restored to all customers. The cause of the outage has not yet been determined.
