Kailua Cinemas
345 Hahani Street,
Kailua,
HI
96734
345 Hahani Street,
Kailua,
HI
96734
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Opened in the 1970’s as a single screen Holiday Mart Theater. Later converted into four screens and renamed the Kailua Cinemas, it was operated by Wallace Theaters. Closed in 2004.
Contributed by
Chuck
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From Pacific Business News (Honolulu) Friday, April 4, 2008
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Kailua will lose its last movie theater at the end of the month when the Keolu Center Cinemas close down.
Hollywood Theaters made the decision last year that it would close the four-screen theater at the Keolu Shopping Center when the lease expired on April 30.
It will be the company’s third theater in Kailua to close. Portland, Ore.-based Hollywood Theaters closed the three-screen Enchanted Lake Cinemas in the Enchanted Lake Shopping Center in 2003, and the
two-screen Kailua Theatres on Hahani Street two years later.
This theater actually opened back in the 1970’s. It was originally called the Holiday Mart Theater with just one screen. During the early 90’s it was taken over by the Wallace Theater chain and turned into twin screen venue.
As a former manager of the Kailua Theater, let me clarify the issue about the number of screens at the theater. During my management term (the late 1990s), I researched the history of the theater. It started as a single-screen neighborhood theater, and later, a long wall was constructed down the center of the auditorium. The wall extended from the back of the auditorium to the foot of the state. This is when the theater became a two-screen theater. It never had four screens. It opened, if memory serves me correctly, in December of 1971 or 1972.
Question for anyone: was this one of the original Jerry Lewis Cinemas that was on Oahu? One was in Kailua and later was bought by Holiday. I know this place as the Holiday Mart theater, so I would assume they are one and the same. Will have to look into finding movie showings from the early 70’s to be sure.
Steve, when Hollywood announced that they would close the theatre when the lease ran out, they stated in their annuncement that it was a four screen.