Ala Moana (meaning ''path to the sea'' in Hawaiian) is a commercial, retail, and residential district of

Honolulu, Hawaii Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

. It is located between Waikiki and Moiliili to the east, and Kakaako and

Honolulu Harbor Honolulu Harbor, also called ''Kulolia'' and ''Ke Awa O Kou'' and the Port of Honolulu, is the principal seaport of Honolulu, Hawaii, Honolulu and the Hawaii, State of Hawaii in the United States. From the harbor, the Honolulu County, Hawaii, City ...

to the west. King Street, to the north, marks the border with the neighborhood of Makiki. Ala Moana is situated along the southern shores of the island of

Oahu Oahu (, , sometimes written Oahu) is the third-largest and most populated island of the Hawaiian Islands and of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state capital, Honolulu, is on Oahu's southeast coast. The island of Oahu and the uninhabited Northwe ...

and features a vast stretch of reef-protected white sandy beaches. The main roads through Ala Moana are Ala Moana Boulevard and Kapiolani Boulevard. Ala Moana is a major transfer point in Honolulu's bus system. Across the street from Ala Moana Center is Ala Moana Beach Park, dedicated by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

in the 1930s. The

civic center A civic center or civic centre is a prominent land area within a community that is constructed to be its focal point or center. It usually contains of one or more dominant public buildings, which may also include a government building. Recently, ...

of Ala Moana is

Ala Moana Center The Ala Moana Center, commonly known simply as Ala Moana, is a large open-air shopping mall in the Ala Moana, Honolulu, Ala Moana neighborhood of Honolulu, Hawaii. Owned by Brookfield Properties, Ala Moana is the List of largest shopping malls i ...

, once the largest shopping center in the United States and currently the largest open-air shopping center in the world. The shopping center was developed by Don Graham and opened August 13, 1959. The area is currently experiencing residential and retail growth in addition to the shopping center.

History

The

ancient Hawaii Ancient Hawaii is the period of Hawaiian history preceding the establishment in 1795 of the Kingdom of Hawaii by Kamehameha the Great. Traditionally, researchers estimated the first settlement of the Hawaiian islands as having occurred sporad ...

an name for the area was Kâlia. It originally included many fishponds, taro fields, swamps, and residences for the fishermen. The land was held as Hawaiian Government property and sold in 1861 to Lot Kamehameha. The parcel later passed into

Bernice Pauahi Bishop Bernice Pauahi Pākī Bishop KGCOK RoK (December 19, 1831 – October 16, 1884) was an '' alii'' (noble) of the royal family of the Kingdom of Hawaii and a well known philanthropist. Ancestry, birth and early life Pauahi was born in Hon ...

's holdings and later became part of the Bishop Estate which put the parcel up for sale around the time of Bernice Pauahi Bishop's death in 1884. It was sold to Walter F. Dillingham in 1912 for $30,000. Dillingham established the Hawaiian Dredging Company in 1902 to build harbors along his father's OR&L Co.’s lines and, shortly thereafter, won the U.S. Navy contract to dredge the entrance channel to

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Reci ...

. The parcel of land in Ka􏰅lia provided a dumping spot for excess fill from dredging Pearl Harbor, creating the opportunity for future development. Honolulu's 1939-1944 master plan had zoned the property for hotels and apartments with a street grid through the site. A 1949 feasibility survey by

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill SOM, an initialism of its original name Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP, is a Chicago-based architectural, urban planning, and engineering firm. It was founded in 1936 by Louis Skidmore and Nathaniel Owings. In 1939, they were joined by engineer ...

convinced the developer, the Hawaiian Land Company, a newly formed subsidiary company of the Hawaiian Dredging Company headed by Walter Dillingham's son Lowell, to request a change in zoning in order to develop the property into a shopping center. The study, prior to the construction of most of the island's shopping centers, had found that urban Honolulu was underserved by retail outlets and that parking had become difficult in the downtown shopping area.

Gallery

Like Like Drive Inn, a staple of Oahu since 1953 closed in 2020.jpg, The Like Like Drive Inn, a staple of Ala Moana neighborhood since 1953 closed in 2020 (during the

COVID-19 Pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

) Alamoana.jpg, New high rise buildings tower over Ala Moana Beach Park

References

{{coord, 21.291852, -157.843565, display=title Geography of Honolulu County, Hawaii Neighborhoods in Honolulu Shopping districts and streets in the United States Economy of Honolulu