092417COM_X7

qmp2017

QUEENS’ MARKETPLACE | CELEBRATING 10 YEARS 7 A stroll through Queens’ MarketPlace, “the gathering place of the Kohala Coast,” takes visitors past a colorful streetscape, with a Chinese pagoda, a Japanese koi pond, a Monarchy-era bandstand, and downtown Hilo-style storefronts reminiscent of Hawai‘i’s “melting pot” culture. Along the way, delicious scents tempt shoppers into restaurants, cafes, and multi-ethnic eateries, and at the Coronation Pavilion, local artists share their skills in Hawaiian music, hula, and more. Not that long ago, this busy place was a wide, barren stretch of lava, reaching to the shore at ‘Anaeho‘omalu Bay, where a quiet fishing community raised ‘anae (mullet), a favorite fish of the ali‘i, in cultivated fishponds. First inhabited about 800 AD, the historic lands of Waikoloa were also walked by warriors, travelers, and traders, following ancient lava trails, Ala Kahakai or “King’s Trail,” passing between King Kamehameha I’s royal court at Kailua-Kona and the heiau he had built at Pu‘ukohola. In the 1700s — prior to European contact — residents began to move away, leaving the region to wait for its next population. The land belonged to Kamehameha I, who awarded it to his English advisor, Isaac Davis. In the early 20th century, Davis’ heirs sold it to Parker Ranch, and ‘Anaeho‘omalu was transformed from a place of hard work, to a place for recreation, where paniolo families came to swim, fish, eat together and play music by the ocean. In the 1960s, Parker Ranch’s sixth generation owner, Richard Smart, decided to sell off some of the makai (ocean side) lands that were not productive for cattle-raising, but had great potential for the visitor industry. He sold 25,500 acres to Boise Cascade Properties which eventually transferred the property to Boise’s visionary head of the real estate division, Ronald F. Boeddeker. Boeddeker had formed his own company, Transcontinental Development Corporation, to develop a resort masterpiece — with two luxurious hotels, two championship golf courses, restaurants and preserved historic sites. It was Thos Rohr, president and CEO of Waikoloa Land Company from 1988- 2010, who first brought shopping to the resort, opening the Kings’ Shops in 1991, and beginning plans for sister center Queens’ MarketPlace. To manifest his vision, he contracted Ted “’How could we create our own image, our own interpretation of what architecture should be at Waikoloa? What would be our sense of place and make us different from Mauna Kea or Hualalai? Waikoloa appeals to a broader spectrum of the market than some of the other resorts on the island, but we always wanted to retain a sensitivity to the ali‘i of the islands.’” An excerpt from: “The Gathering Place: Waikoloa Beach Resort” by George Fuller CONTINUED ON PAGE 8


qmp2017
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