Polynesian Cultural Center-Cerritos, CA?

I was searching online for old Polynesian and tiki places in Long Beach and found this article in a 1971 edition of the Long Beach Press Telegram.

According to the Story of Cerritos: "In 1971 there was a proposal to build a Polynesian cultural center that would feature an artificial ocean with six islands and a volcano that would erupt nightly. The developers guaranteed that the volcano would be non air-polluting, but the idea was still very unpopular with neighboring home owners." The Cerritos Towne Center was built instead.

Cool find, never heard of this. Reminds me of the grand Lake Loreen plans. Shows how much the old geezers from the moneyed establishment were out of touch with the fact that the new generation had lost interest in the theme.

Wonder if any printed proposals and renderings existed...

Wow, with a facility that grand, there would have been A LOT of overhead. Reminds me of the Japanese Deer Park and Gardens in Buena Park that also was pretty cool but just couldn't survive long-term.

I think most of the employees would have been Mormon college kids trying to earn money for school. At least that is how the one in Hawaii operates.
The PCC developer T. David Hannemann ended up becoming the president of the Mormon church in Hawaii. The Hukilau in Laie was the percurser to the Polynesian Cultural Center and another Mormon development. It ended in 1971.
I'm far from being religious, but it's interesting that the Mormon missionaries seemed to embrace the Polynesian culture as opposed to forcing the 'natives' to burn their idols and spirit huts. I could be wrong about that.
There were ads for Sam's Seafood and The Outrigger on the same page as the article. Another couple of ads were for Polynesian restaurants in Belmont Shore and, I think, Bixby Knolls. PCH by the traffic circle in Long Beach seemed to be ground zero for Polynesian establishments.

On 2012-11-05 08:51, tikilongbeach wrote:
I'm far from being religious, but it's interesting that the Mormon missionaries seemed to embrace the Polynesian culture as opposed to forcing the 'natives' to burn their idols and spirit huts. I could be wrong about that.

You're right, that is interesting. I know the Hawaiian islands have been, and I believe still are, a big Mormon mission field. I've personally avoided the PCC for various reasons (mostly because there is so much other real stuff to see and do and which doesn't cost $50 to $100/person, heh...) but I do find it interesting that Mormonism has so embraced and supported island history and cultures when their own religion is completely void of any archaeological or anthropological evidence to support their claims and their own history. Not trying to get into a religion discussion here, but just sayin' it's an interesting juxtaposition when you step back and look at it...