Post #574278 by bigbrotiki on Wed, Feb 2, 2011 12:01 AM

All very nicely put, Randy, and though it does not address the Hanalei question, I especially like the "Rot, Attrition, Inheritance" section, because it describes the reasons for Tiki devolution on a human, individual level:

On 2011-02-01 14:27, aquarj wrote:
ROT, ATTRITION, INHERITANCE
The historical narratives for many midcentury tiki temples are often punctuated (or ended) with the need for major repairs due to rot, mold, etc. In parallel with the physical decay over the passage of years is the simultaneous disenchantment with the original concept and fantasy. Whether a place remains in the hands of the original visionary, or has passed to a next generation, it's easy for the dream to lose its luster over time with the daily grind of upkeep. So imagine an owner facing massive impending renovation costs and dwindling attendance coupled with their own fatigue running the day to day enterprise. They're stuck. If they put off the repairs, this could lead to any number of unappetizing outcomes, including even being shutdown by the local authorities. If they want to take on the repairs, now they have to face a whole new set of regulations, inspectors, and other busybodies who make it nearly impossible to even just re-create what's already there. It's very hard to make the case that they should up the ante with their personal stake in the place, as opposed to the attractive option of selling. With the rarest of exceptions, whatever entity comes along with the financial means to buy the place will have even less stake in the original dream. Not only that, but from the buyer's perspective it's hard to escape seeing the "features" of the original vision more as liabilities in their present aging state - essentially the mistakes of the prior owner that need to be corrected rather than repeated.

Only thing you forgot to mention was the cheap solution of slapping on bright paint, to stop the rot AND update the look to something more "colorful".

Case in point the painted Tiki posts in the Hanalei courtyard. It was/is a miracle that the restaurant lasted as long as it did. One reason for that might be that it went "full Tiki" sort of late in the game, because the original owner of the Hanalei was of that WWII "Polynesiac" generation, and stuck to his tastes:

In 1980, as the rest of the world was already saying goodbye to Tiki, he bought the decor of the The Luau and majorly expanded and elaborated on the theme, even having a Hawaiian Kahuna bless the place. After his passing, the sons dabbled a little in the biz, but then the place changed hands several times. Very similar to the Fairmont Hotel and the Tonga Room, which went fully Polynesian fairly late, also still under the direction of the "old generation" owner.

Thinking about these two examples having flourished later and then lasted longer than many others would almost make it seem that Tiki has its own inherent life cycle, because after their time was up, no matter how far the Tiki revival had gotten, it could not halt their devolution. Sort of like a tree that reaches a certain age and then just dies.

Sorry, getting philosophical here...

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2011-02-02 00:31 ]