Post #277357 by bigbrotiki on Sun, Jan 7, 2007 6:49 PM

That it some fine urban archeology there T.R.! The forgotten sentinels of the glory days of the International Market Place will live on in these pages, even as defaced with garish colors as some of them are...

Here a few vintage memories: The I.M.P. was actually initiated by Don The Beachcomber, and intended as a ONE LEVEL village of little South Seas trading posts. It was sort of an irony that the Spencliff's Trader Vic's opened there later. Here's the entrance:

See the sign on the right, with Don's place being the main attraction. The posts with the Malanggan masks on the left were carved by Edward Brownlee, who also did the Waikikian/Tahitian Lanai. They were later copied on this Californian restaurant's menu cover:

And here is Don in front of his Waikiki restaurant, which was embedded in the Market Place:

All this was long gone, but Don's special dining place for two, his tree house, was not torn down until about a year ago. Here is a photo of it from 1999, with my son Diego on the bridge:

Bye bye I.M.T., the last traces of Don's vision will be soon erased.