Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Historic Waioli Tea Room Will Reopen




Waioli Tea Room closed for renovations, will reopen under new management 

Janis L. Magin   
Managing Editor- Pacific Business News 
October 29, 2013


The Waioli Tea Room & Bakery in Manoa has closed for renovations and will reopen in two weeks under the management of the Salvation Army’s Adult Rehabilitation Center.

The current employees of the restaurant will become Salvation Army employees and will undergo orientation and training while it’s closed for renovations, which include painting and repaving of the entrance road and parking lot, the agency said in a statement.

“We’re pleased to be able to continue the restaurant operations at this historic location,” Maj. John Chamness, divisional commander of The Salvation Army of Hawaii, said in a statement. “It’s a one-of-a-kind experience enjoyed by visitors and locals alike in beautiful Manoa Valley.”

Rafael Escalera, business administrator for the Salvation Army’s Adult Rehabilitation Center, or ARC, said the organization expects a smooth transition and will offer the same menus for breakfast, lunch and tea when it reopens on Nov. 11.



“Revenue from the Tea Room operations will support programs benefiting our adult beneficiaries through their recovery process,” Escalera said.

The six-month residential ARC program serves men who are recovering from drug and alcohol addiction.

 A peek at the history courtesy of Wikipedia

The Salvation Army Waiʻoli Tea Room is located at 2950 Mānoa Road, at the intersection of Oahu Avenue, in the City and County of Honolulu, on the island of Oahu, in the U.S. state of Hawaii. It was added to National Register of Historic Places listings on Oahu on October 30, 1998. It currently operates under the name Waiʻoli Tea Room & Bakery. Within the property is a replica of the ʻĀinahau grass guest house that Robert Louis Stevenson occupied in 1889 when he visited Princess Ka'iulani and her father Archibald Scott Cleghorn.

The structure was designed by Emory & Webb, a successful Honolulu architectural firm of the era. Walter Leavitte Emory was born November 10, 1868, in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. He relocated to the Territory of Hawaii in 1898. Marshall Hickman Webb was born May 7, 1869 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Sometime between 1908 and 1910, the two formed the architectural firm of Emory & Webb. Emory died in 1929.

Robert Louis Stevenson's grass house

Located on the Waiʻoli premises is what has become known as the Robert Louis Stevenson Memorial Grass House. It is in fact a replica of the original that once existed there. The original was erected as a guest house at the ʻĀinahau estate by the father of Princess Ka'iulani, businessman Archibald Scott Cleghorn. In 1889, Stevenson and his family resided in the ʻĀinahau guest house. Ka'iulani and the author spent much time together on the estate. While Stevenson was smitten with the princess, she did not reciprocate. Ka'iulani died in 1899. When Cleghorn died in 1910, he willed the estate to the Territory of Hawaii, specifying it be maintained as a park in Ka'iulani's memory. The Princess Ka'iulani Hotel now stands where the ʻĀinahau estate once was. When the hut was auctioned off in 1926, it was moved to the current location. Although the Salvation Army initially did a complete restoration of the old hut, it was rebuilt entirely in 1983. In 2003, the hut was destroyed by high winds. The hut was finally restored and reopened in 2012.

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