[Reprinted from the Church News in January 2010; story and photos by Mike (Mikaele) Foley]
Early morning motorists passing by on Kamehameha Highway saw a mechanical excavator take its first bites out of the landmark Church-affiliated Laie Inn about 7 a.m. on January 25, 2010.
[The 220-unit Courtyard by Marriott Oahu North Shore hotel eventually replaced it, opening on June 29, 2015 — the same day the Polynesian Cultural Center officially dedicated its new Hukilau Marketplace.]
Jeffrey K. Tyau, Director of Engineering & Utilities for Hawaii Reserves, Inc. (HRI), which manages Church-affiliated property in Hawaii, explained demolition work on the 49-unit hotel would last about a week “to knock down the five structures, and then take about another week to clean up everything. The last guests left on November 1, 2009.
Latter-day Saint Church officials broke ground for the small hotel on August 5, 1964, adjacent to what was then the main entrance to the Polynesian Cultural Center, which had opened in October 1963.
The small hotel operated under several names and managements since its first guests arrived in February 1966, and has accommodated presidents of the Church and other General Authorities, dignitaries, Laie Hawaii Temple patrons, parents and relatives of Brigham Young University–Hawaii graduates, tourists, school and family groups, and kamaaina or local families. The inn also housed several other businesses over the years, including a beauty salon and a travel agency.
Aunty Kela Miller, an HRI customer service representative who was born in Laie, said she “got a little teary-eyed” when she stopped by to watch the beginning of the demolition work. “It brought back so many wonderful memories. Naniloa Lodge was the first name, and there was a restaurant across the road,” she said, referring to the A-frame structure that became Laie McDonald’s [before it moved to its present location on Kamehameha Hwy.]. Miller now works at the Courtyard hotel.
Back then, Miller noted the late Emily Enos (grandmother-in-law to PCC President Alfred Grace) operated the restaurant as an American buffet where PCC visitors could exchange their dinner tickets for more familiar food.
“We would also hold wedding receptions and parties there. When the lodge first opened, Laie community residents went and did an official welcome, to invite the people and let them know they would feel comfortable when they came here.”
“The community used it, too, just to get away,” Miller continued. “I have pictures of my family when they were young, and we stayed there, with my grandchildren, too.”
The Church also built a gas station [Laie Chevron] just makai of the restaurant, which was leased to the Masuda family of Kahuku until soon before the demolition. Years earlier, their family operated a gas station at the intersection with Egg Farm Road, and they still operate the NAPA Auto Parts store in Laie Shopping Center.
“But as I was watching the building come down, I know there will be better accommodations in Laie in the future. This tells me we’re going forward.
