Demolition Begins At Kona Lagoon Hotel

KEAUHOU, HI— According to a report in West Hawaii Today, the Kona Lagoon Hotel is being torn down. Kamehameha Schools on June 21, began demolition of the 454-room hotel, completed in 1974 at a cost of $10.5 million, as part of the recently announced efforts to upgrade the Keauhou Resort area, said the report. The Kona Lagoon property has been closed since 1988, when Japanese developer Azabu USA announced a $65 million plan to renovate and combine it into a single resort. with the neighboring Keauhou Beach Hotel. However, the collapse of the Japanese economy and other issues prevented the company from carrying out its plans, said the report. The hotel will be replaced with a cultural preserve at the historically significant north end, and timeshare units at the south end, according to the report. There is no exact timetable when the timeshare development will begin. The site of the old hotel will be replaced with landscaping, said the paper. SOURCE: West Hawaii Today