Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Hawaii's Kahala 16 Theatres flooded

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Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 04-01-2006, 01:13 AM:

Due to heavy continues rain for almost forty days, Pacific's Kahala 16 Theatres in the Kahala Mall in Honolulu was badly damaged by a flood today. All of the shops on the first floor of the mall along with the theatres were all damaged when a foot and a half of water engulfed the mall. You can read about the flood and the damage to the theatres as well as the mall at http://honoluluadvertiser.com

-Claude

Posted by Christopher Seo (Member # 7) on 04-01-2006, 01:44 PM:

Wow! My mom said it was raining a lot in Honolulu, but I didn't know it was that bad.

One thing... last time I was in Hawaii, Kahala Theatres was an 8-plex. They didn't twin each auditorium, did they? [Big Grin]

Posted by Mike Heenan (Member # 392) on 04-01-2006, 01:59 PM:

I hope Robin's Nest is ok, or Higgins will surely catch some flack from Mr. Masters. [Big Grin]

Posted by Aaron Mehocic (Member # 15) on 04-01-2006, 02:27 PM:

We were flooded during a powerful storm two summers ago. There was about 4 - 6 inches in the lobby and about a foot in the auditoriums under the screens. The storm drains in the parking lot were inundated and the water came in right through the front doors.

We lost only one night's business. The most interesting part of the whole adventure was some guy bitching about his new shows getting wet. Most of the patrons were very understanding as many private homes around town were also flooded as a result of that storm as well.

Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 04-01-2006, 03:49 PM:

You are right, Chris,

The Kahala is still a 8th plex. I was thinking about the Kapolei 16 when I submitted the post about the Kahala flood. By the way, it looks like Alan Sakaida and his crew finally put in digital sound in all of the auditoriums at Kahala. I do not know if you knew it or not but auditoriums #2, #3, #4 & #5 had room in the back of the screen for only one speaker when it opened with Kintek sound systems. The area around the speaker enclosure I was told was solid concrete. I wonder how they made room for the two additional front speakers?

-Claude

Posted by Sam Graham (Member # 2889) on 04-01-2006, 06:51 PM:

SOURCE: Honolulu Advertiser

quote:
Surprise ending at Kahala Mall movie

KAHALA — William Dearmore was in the Kahala Mall movie theater with his mom when the lights started flickering and the projector went dead.

He thought nothing of it, but then he turned to see people filing toward the exits as water began seeping from the walls and flowing down the aisles.

"Me and my mom were just chilling there waiting for people to clear out and then this rumbling sound came and the wall broke and all this water came rushing out. There was at least 3 feet of water in the theater; it was like something from (the movie) 'Titanic,' but the water was brown," said Dearmore, a 19-year-old automotive student at Honolulu Community College.

"We were watching 'Ice Age.' Imagine the irony."

The storm that pounded O'ahu yesterday wreaked havoc at Kahala Mall, where floodwaters and a water main break on Hunakai Street combined to overload the theater's wall and ceiling located below. The rushing water burst through the theater doors and damaged several ground-level stores.

"The good news is nobody was injured and it's only property damage," said Scott Creel, regional marketing director for Kahala Mall. "The runoff was such that the gutters couldn't hold it, then gravity took over and pulled it into the mall."

Officials said the mall would close today and tomorrow as workers assess damage and clean up. Roughly 80 percent of the stores on the ground level were filled to varying degrees with water yesterday afternoon, Creel said.

Some stores that have their own entrances, such as Longs Drug Store and Tower Records, may remain open this weekend, he said.

The wall in the theater collapsed shortly after noon, along with part of the ceiling.

Emilio Herrero, a 58-year-old geophysics professor at the University of Hawai'i, was standing in line to buy a ticket when he saw people leaving the theaters and water rushing out.

"I couldn't get in because people said the ceiling was collapsing," he said. "The water was coming out of the theaters."

With an alarm shrieking in the background, shopkeepers spent yesterday afternoon trying to save their stores. Near Longs, workers dumped bags of cat litter at the base of a security door that was lowered to try to stop the water from seeping in.

With at least a foot of water in some places, security guards roamed the mall asking people to leave. At least one woman sobbed uncontrollably. Guards escorted her out of the mall, where they waited with her while she called her family.

Some stores nearest the theater, Town & Country Surf, KB Toys and IC Communications, were completely flooded, and display signs, toys, clothes, trash and shelves floated in debris-filled water.

Inside KB Toys, a manager struggled to push floating toys back into the store while she fumbled with a security gate that wouldn't lock. As soon as she pushed a stuffed animal or board game back into the store, a Batman figure or string of beads would float out or jam under the gate.

Samuel Maumau, a 64-year old retired Big Island resident who is in town for a visit, said he was in Lenscrafters when the water arrived. He said he saw shoes, plants and other debris rush in with the flood.

"It started seeping down slowly, then it started rushing in," he said as he stood watching the water pour out of the door near Pizza Hut. "They put up towels but they washed away. It was frightening."

The stairwell leading to the mall's basement, next to Borders Express, was a rushing waterfall at 12:30 p.m. yesterday, and people crowded the escalators on each side watching the show.

Shane Duhon, an IC Communications employee, stood in ankle-deep water trying to get the shop in order. Though the water had started to recede by mid-afternoon, a lot of his inventory had gotten wet and leaves, dirt and mud had washed in.

"It's unfortunate for all the merchants in here," he said.

Two stores down from Pizza Hut, jewelry store owner Annie Kao stood shaking her head.

"It's terrible," the owner of Liana of Hawaii said. "More than terrible."

Posted by Christopher Seo (Member # 7) on 04-03-2006, 03:29 PM:

Claude, yes, Alan had told me about that issue with Houses 2-5. Too bad this flood occurred after they had finally gotten it to work, because I know it wasn't easy....

Posted by Steve Scott (Member # 630) on 04-03-2006, 04:40 PM:

If they had the depth for the center, they probably cut holes in the concrete & built drywall boxes for the other stereo channels. Unless they mounted them beside the screen, but someone would have been able to plainly see such an install.

Posted by Paul Linfesty (Member # 214) on 04-03-2006, 05:01 PM:

quote: Steve Scott
Unless they mounted them beside the screen, but someone would have been able to plainly see such an install.

This was the speaker arrangement at the Mann Plaza Theatre in Westwood. The theatre opened in 1967 (debut: Barefoot in the Park) with a single speaker box placed on the outside of the screen wall with a hole cut into the brick building. When Laemmle upgraded to Dolby Stereo in the 70's, the full sized left and right speakers were mounted outside of the screen width in front of the curtains, suspended by wire attached to the ceiling. Mann Theatres later upgraded the theatre to 70mm in 1982, but the speakers stayed the same. I don't think they had the subwoofers, though.

Another L.A. theatre, the Tiffany, used the same arrangement. the Crest in Westwood also had a speaker box outside the back wall of the theatre; however, when this theatre added stereo, and later, THX and 70mm, they used a screen that was moved up to allow all stage speakers to be inside the main back wall.

Posted by Mathew Molloy (Member # 666) on 04-03-2006, 06:20 PM:

Paul, I think the Regent in Westwood had a similar arrangement. There's a boarded up hole the size of a speaker in the cement wall behind the screen. A pinhole of daylight can be seen through the screen - but only from the projection booth. (Something that always freaks the visiting techies out when they're in the booth and see a pinpoint of light in the center of the screen!)

Posted by Bill Gabel (Member # 1105) on 04-03-2006, 06:48 PM:

The Regent Theatre was converted from a store before Laemmle Theatres ran it. It goes back when it was a mono house. The Picwood Theatre had a small little room back behind the screen which once housed an Altec cabinet, before if was remodeled in the mid 60's.

Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 04-04-2006, 12:50 AM:

Chris,

From newspaper follow up reports, only house #6, #7 & #8 had sustained serious damage. House 6-8 damages consisted of two walls caving in and five hundred seats covered with mud. It does not look like houses 1 to 5 were affected by the flood.

-Claude