By Staff Reports
(HONOLULU) – The Neal S. Blaisdell Center is pleased to announce the reopening of the Hawaii Suites meeting rooms. Constructed as an addition to the Blaisdell Center’s Exhibition Hall in 1993, the 12 meeting rooms provide for flexible spaces to accommodate smaller events and breakout rooms or to expand the capacity of the exhibition space.
$3.06 million in upgrades address safety, energy efficiencies and deferred maintenance—including new moving acoustic divider walls, new air handlers and thermostat controls for each room, energy efficient dimmable lighting, new commercial quality flooring, wall finishes, and solar shades to modernize the facility.
“We are very fortunate to have an expert project leadership team provided by Director Haku Milles, P.E. and Deputy Director Bryan Gallagher, P.E., from the City’s Department of Design and Construction,” said Dita Holifield, Department of Enterprise Services director. “Working in conjunction with our staff and contractor, S&M Sakamoto, we are very pleased to have this five-month renovation project completed on-time and on-budget so we can promptly resume business and reopen our doors to host our community events, meetings and activities. We truly appreciate everyone’s patience with our campus-wide construction closures and are thrilled to welcome back our loyal tenants and are looking forward to accommodating and serving new interests as well. As we approach 60 years of being Hawaii’s entertainment hub, we remain focused on improving our facilities and services to provide for many more memorable and exciting events in the years to come.”
The first event to kick off the re-opening of the Hawaii Suites will be held on Sunday, October 1, 2023, welcoming the return of the Wiki Wiki One Day Vintage Collectibles and Hawaiiana Show, an annual show at the Blaisdell Center for the past 32 years.
The Blaisdell Center, formerly called the Hawaii International Center (HIC), was originally constructed in 1964. The Exhibition Hall and the facility’s administrative building, including the Galleria and Box Office, were renovated in 1992, though original equipment from 1964 is still being utilized today in many other areas across the Blaisdell campus.
$43.6 million has been appropriated for campus-wide capital improvement projects that are being managed by the City’s Department of Design and Construction, as well as architectural and engineering work headed up by consultants Pacific Architects, Inc. and WCIT.
Construction projects have been sequenced for the Blaisdell Center and Tom Moffat Waikiki Shell so at least one or more facilities remain open for operation. The planned construction projects will not require any full campus closures.
To book an event, the public is encouraged to contact the Blaisdell Center at https://blaisdellcenter.com.
The following link provides the most current updates to our facility closure dates: https://blaisdellcenter.com/blaisdell-center-closures-for-construction/