Volume XX No. 03 March 2019 Mayor Caldwell Advances Waikīkī Public Safety Agenda By Rick Egged Wednesday, February 27, 2019, exactly a year after the 2018 Waikīkī Public Safety Conference, Mayor Kirk Caldwell announced implementation of the major components of the conference recommendations. Along with the Honolulu Police Department (HPD) and financial sponsors the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority (HTA) and the Waikīkī Business Improvement District Association (WBIDA) the Mayor announced a public safety package. "Waikiki is one of the safest visitor destinations in the entire world, and we want to make sure our visitors always feel comfortable in this very special place," said Mayor Caldwell. "We especially thank the visitor industry partners, and in particular the Hawai'i Tourism Authority and the Waikiki Business Improvement District Association, for stepping up and providing hundreds of thousands of dollars for new security cameras. When the installation is pau, the Waikīkī district will have at least 50 surveillance cameras to help police in their mission to keep both visitors and residents safe while they celebrate life in one of the most incredible places on the planet.” (L-R) Rick Egged, President, WIA; Ross S Saamura, P.E. Director Facility Maintenance, C & C Honolulu; Mayor Kirk Caldwell and Keith Regan, Hawai‘i Tourism Authority, Chief Administrative Officer Photos courtesy City and County of Honolulu Continued on next page Inside this issue: 1-3 Mayor Caldwell advances Waikiki Public Safety Agenda Royal Hawaiian Center – Hawaiian Culture Celebrated, Celebrate Spring, 4 Ala Moana Center to Celebrate 60 Years in Hawai‘i Hawaiian Nightly Entertainment, Cultural Classes and more 5 Honolulu Festival Celebrating 25 Years of Cultural Goodwill Sky Waikiki – St. Patrick’s Day Specials 6 Half Off Suites at Hilton Hawaiian Village WOLFGANG’S STEAKHOUSE – more than great steaks 7 La Costa Italiano Dinner Buffet Highlights Revamped Halekulani – Live at Lewers Masters of Jazz Series, SpaHalekulani, Cattleya at Culinary Offerings Orchids, Halekulani Gallery featureing John Kelly 8 Sheraton Waikiki appoints Three Members to its Executive Team Waikiki Beach Walk – Free Cultural Activities 9 Ala Moana Center Centerstage shows Queen Kapiolani Hotel features Elijah Sky at Poolside 10 PacRim Marketing Group names Angel Wong Integrated Marketing Mgr Hilton Waikiki Beach – March Activities and Events inc. Prince Kuhio Celebration 11 Waikiki Hula Show at the Kuhio Beach Hula Mound Il Lupino Trattoria – New Happy Hour Menu & Times Sky Waikiki and Top of Waikiki – local lovin’ Attachments Hawai‘i Convention Center – March Meeting and Events WOW Waikiki Beach Clean Up – be involved Waikiki Beach Walk – Entertainment & Activities Honolulu Festival: Celebrating 25 years of Cultural Goodwill, March 8-10 Top of Waikiki – Heart Healthy Prix Fixe Menu $55 Basalt at Duke’s Lane Market & Eatery – American Whisky Dinner, Two Lady bills – Pau Hana Small Plates and more Farms Braised Park Shoulder, Happy Hour, Live Music Waikiki Community Center – March newsletter . and MORE Continued from front page Highlights of the public safety package are as follows: Surveillance cameras • Currently, there are 10 city surveillance cameras, mostly along Kalākaua Avenue; four of these have already been replaced with higher-definition cameras • In addition to the existing cameras, at least 40 new cameras will be installed in the coming months. • The Hawai 'i Tourism Authority (HTA) provided a $300,000 grant for additional cameras, while the Waikīkī Business Improvement District Association (WBIDA) approved a $75,700 grant; these new cameras will feature pan-tilt-zoom capabilities with a 360-degree view • Monitoring of the new cameras will still take place at the Waikīkī police substation, with assistance from the Aloha Ambassadors funded by the WBID. Each new camera must be approved by a resolution passed by the Honolulu City Council. "We are appreciative of this collaborative effort with the City and County of Honolulu that will support HPD's efforts to make Waikīkī safer for residents and visitors," said Chris Tatum, president and CEO of the Hawai'i Tourism Authority. "With the support of the Hawai'i's tourism industry and state government leadership, we will continue to work with the counties to invest our communities." "The safety of our visitors, residents, and workers is important to the continued aloha of Waikīkī;' added Jennifer Nakayama, president of the Waikīkī Business Improvement District Association. "Safety is always the top priority, no matter if you are a visitor from afar or locals that have lived here all their life. The WBIDA and our Board of Directors are proud to be a part of this important project's funding, as this equipment will enhance HPD's ability to monitor Waikīkī for the safety of all." Robust HPD presence • The Waikīkī District deploys a combination of plainclothes and uniformed officers on foot, in cars, and on bikes and ATVs to prevent, respond to, and investigate crimes • HPD bike patrol officers are starting and finishing their work later. Their hours are from 10 a.m. to 6:45 p.m., Tuesdays through Saturdays • New Officers are being deployed in Waikīkī as part of training. New officers work from the early evening to the early morning hours; the number of new officers depends on the size of the graduating class • Enforcing curfew hours (unaccompanied children 16 years of age and younger cannot be on the streets between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m.) HPD partners with the visitor industry and community groups to promote a safe environment for visitors, residents and workers. New concessions The Department of Parks and Recreation is working with the Department of Enterprise Services to award concessions or create partnerships at pavilions two, three, and four located on the makai-side of Kalākaua Avenue Pavilion one near Kūhiō Beach Park has been home to Kūhiō Grill since June 2017. The goal is to make these pavilions more inviting, while also adding service to Waikīkī. continued Page 2, March 2019 Page 2 Waikīkī Wikiwiki Wire Continued from previous page Removal of concrete benches/walls Concrete benches/walls where bad elements were known to gather have been removed at the following locations: Avalon Commercial and Outrigger Waikīkī Beach Resort. International Market Place Waikīkī Business Plaza (took place Monday, Feb. 25). In related news, HLTA President and CEO Mufi Hannemann announced plans to hold a follow-up Waikīkī Public Safety Conference on March 28th, 2019 sponsored by Hawai‘i Lodging & Tourism Association, Hawai‘i Tourism Authority, Waikīkī Improvement Association and the Waikīkī Business Improvement District Association. More details to follow. Before and after Waikiki Business Plaza publications rack wall. Waikīkī Wikiwiki Wire - Newsletter Deadline The WIA newsletter is published on the first Friday of the month. Submission deadline: Waikiki-related news and information submitted by members (or their PR agencies) for the newsletter should be received no later than 5 pm Wednesday prior to the newsletter that is published and distributed on the first Friday of each month. Articles received after the deadline will be considered for inclusion in the next issue. Photos: Photos which accompany stories are always welcome and, for best results, should be attached to the email as a separate jpeg - maximum 1 MB each image. PDFs: Single page PDFs are also welcome but they must look like flyers and not press releases (so … do not include the dateline, city, media contact information, boilerplate, etc.). Press releases: Word or PDF press releases will be edited to fit the one page format or will be returned to you for editing / reformatting. Your kokua is appreciated. Mahalo. Page 3, March 2019 Page 3 Waikīkī Wikiwiki Wire Ala Moana Center to celebrate 60 years in Hawai‘i A Two-Month Celebration will Feature Birthday-Themed Events and Special Promotions Ala Moana Center, the world’s largest open-air shopping center and Hawai‘i’s premier destination for shopping, dining and entertainment, will celebrate its 60th anniversary on Aug. 13, 2019. To honor this milestone, Ala Moana Center will enhance its signature events that take place throughout the year, leading up to a 60 Day Celebration in July and August featuring anniversary-themed events, special offers, gift- with-purchase promotions, and commemorative 60th anniversary products. “As we commemorate this significant milestone, we’d like to extend a sincere mahalo to the countless loyal customers, merchants and employees who have made Ala Moana Center the success that it is today,” said Francis Cofran, senior general manager, Ala Moana Center. “We are proud to have served Hawai‘i as a leader in retail, fashion, dining and entertainment over the past six decades, remaining one of the community’s favorite gathering places.” When Ala Moana Center first opened its doors on August 13, 1959, it was renowned as the largest shopping center in the U.S., with just over 680,000 square feet of retail space to accommodate 87 merchants. Among the original tenants, six are still open today, including Long’s Drugs, Foodland (now Foodland Farms), Reyn’s (now Reyn Spooner), Shirokiya (now Shirokiya Japan Village Walk), U.S. Post Office and Watumull’s. Over the past six decades, Ala Moana Center has gone through a number of transformations with major renovation and expansion projects, including the most recent Ewa Wing Expansion which was completed in November 2015. The Center now boasts 2.4-million-square-feet of retail space and is home to more than 350 stores and restaurants. Today, Ala Moana Center remains one of Hawaiʻi’s most frequented destinations, attracting 52 million shopping visitations each year. For updates regarding the 60th anniversary, please visit www.AlaMoanaCenter.com or follow Ala Moana Center on Twitter @AlaMoanaCenter, Facebook, and Instagram @AlaMoanaCenter. The Ala Moana Center app is available for free download at iOS App Store for iPhone 6S or higher.