HONOLULU (AP) — Demolition will soon begin on a resort once favored by Elvis Presley and other Hollywood royalty before it was heavily damaged by a hurricane three decades ago.<\/p>\n
The Coco Palms Resort on the island of Kauai will be torn down for a new 350-room hotel, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported.<\/p>\n
The resort is best known in movie lore as the location where Presley and Joan Blackman’s characters married in the 1961 movie “Blue Hawaii.”<\/p>\n
It’s also the site of other key scenes in the movie, including the last where Presley sings the “Hawaiian Wedding Song” and holds Blackman’s hand while they board a raft to cross a lagoon.<\/p>\n
In its heyday, it was famed for being frequented by other Hollywood stars like Frank Sinatra, Rita Hayworth and Bing Crosby.<\/p>\n
The 46-acre grounds were also once home to Kauai’s last queen, Deborah Kapule, who died in 1853.<\/p>\n
The resort opened in 1953 next to a historic coconut grove and an ancient Hawaiian fishpond. The property fell into disrepair after being damaged when the powerful Hurricane Iniki hit the island in 1992.<\/p>\n
Several attempts to restore the property have failed over the years.<\/p>\n
The $250 million project will take three years to complete, said Patrick Manning, a managing partner of Reef Capital Partners from Utah.<\/p>\n
“I called my partners, and I said, ‘This property is too important to sell,'” Manning said.<\/p>\n
The new hotel and a cultural center to honor the property’s history will be built on about 10 acres of the property.<\/p>\n
At one time, the community wanted the resort rebuilt, but those sentiments have changed, said Kauai Council Chairman Mel Rapozo. “They don’t want to see a resort built,” he added.<\/p>\n
At a state Board of Land and Natural Resources meeting Friday, some spoke in opposition to the development, citing a number of ancestral bones buried on the property.<\/p>\n
Cultural practitioner Joseph Kekaulike Kamai said his great-grandmother is buried there, and others are buried under the hotel, driveway and tennis courts.<\/p>\n
“I really don’t want them to be digging anymore. I don’t want them grubbing our land,” Kamai said.<\/p>\n
Manning said something needs to be done or the site will be an eyesore for another 30 years.<\/p>\n
“Even though we know there are many that don’t want it rebuilt, we intend to be viewed and earn a reputation for doing everything we can to honor its past and respect the people of Kauai and guests of Kauai and how we manage its future,” Manning said.<\/p>\n