Waikiki timeline
Advertiser Staff
Fred Ing has witnessed many things rise and fall during his nearly 50-year career at what is now Hilton Hawaiian Village.
Advertiser library photo • March 12, 1998
Ing, who started at the Waikiki resort as a 27-year-old sound man for Alfred Apaka and became an engineer, has seen the vacation village transformed from 13 thatched-roof huts to a high-rise resort.
Fred Ing has worked at the resort for almost 50 years.
He was there when the lagoon was dredged and the ocean pier constructed. And he was around when the geodesic dome was built.
A lot of buildings also have been razed during Ing's time. When the dome was demolished almost two years ago, many memories welled up inside the stage manager-turned-special projects director.
Many recollections were of sweet sounds created under the dome's aluminum skin by Apaka and other Hawaiian music entertainers such as Don Ho.
"But it was time," Ing said. "The dome was really hot. It was like sitting in a pot with the sun hitting the outside — you get cooked on the inside. And noisy. When it rained, it was just like you were in a drum. It was time."
The moving of time by the changing scenery on Hilton's 20-acre grounds is what Ing said drives him. "Nothing stands still," he said. "It always keeps moving. We're always tearing something down and putting something up. That's what keeps me going."
After Kalia Tower is finished this summer, Ing plans to retire.
Here's a look back at the evolution of the place Ing has worked for almost a half-century and most of his life.
1928 — Niumalu Hotel opens.
1954 — Henry J. Kaiser and partner Fritz Burns purchase eight ocean-front acres of the John Ena Estate, Niumalu Hotel and other property to create a 20-acre Hawaiian vacation village.
1955 — Additions to the property include 70 thatched-roof guest cottages, the Tapa Room, three swimming pools and gardens. Four lanai houses, each with 18 to 56 guest rooms, are constructed. With the need for even more room capacity, the three-story, 100-room 'Ale 'Ale Kai is built along with restaurants and nightclubs. Kaiser and Burns envision four "skyscraper" hotels.
1955-56 — Lagoon is dredged; pier built.
1957 — Ocean Tower (14 stories, 276 rooms) is built.
1957 — Dome is built. (It took 20 hours to build for the premiere of "Around the World in Eighty Days".)
1958 — Village Tower (13 stories) is built.
1960 — Diamond Head Tower (17 stories) is built.
1961 — Conrad Hilton acquires Kaiser's 50 percent interest in the property, and establishes Hilton-Burns Co. The color of the hotel is changed from pink to blue.
1965 — Hilton Lagoon Apartments (25 stories, 279 units) is completed. Room count: 1,556 plus 279 apartments.
1966 — Diamond Head apartment building (10 stories) is purchased.
1968 — Rainbow Tower (31 stories) opens.
1969 — Mid-Pacific Conference Center and an 1,800-stall parking structure are completed.
1970 — Rainbow Bazaar retail complex opens with about 40 shops and restaurants.
1973 — Tapa Room burns down.
1977 — Burns sells his 50 percent stake in the property to Prudential Insurance Co. of America.
1979 — Village Tower demolition makes room for Tapa Tower.
1982 — Tapa Tower (35 stories and 1,016 guest rooms plus meeting rooms) is added. Total room count: 2,614 — making the resort the largest in Hawai'i. Also, a $100 million architectural renewal begins. Plans include gutting the Ocean Tower and transforming it into Ali'i Tower.
1988 — Master-planned rehabilitation is completed. Property reopens with 2,523 rooms, a loss of 91 rooms.
1996 — Tapa Bar and Lobby are renovated.
1999 — Dome is demolished and ground broken for Kalia. Hilton purchases the neighboring 1.9-acre Waikikian site for $20 million.
2000 — Room reconfigurations since 1988 bring the room count to 2,545.
2001 — Kalia opens, bringing the total room count to 2,998, the most of any Hilton Hotels Corp. resort.
