It's been about a month since the city and the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement announced a plan to bring back a free hula show at the Waikiki Shell Amphitheater. It’s a throwback to the Kodak Hula Show that started in the 1930s and ended in 2002.
However, the park watchdog group, the Kapiolani Park Preservation Society, has raised concerns that the hula event is a prelude to a commercial lūʻau show at night.
The preservation society maintains that such a show would violate trust rules that say the park should be free and accessible to all seeking recreation.
It’s a reminder of the lawsuit that went all the way to the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court in 1988 when the city planned to build a Burger King and construction equipment yard. The court ruled against the city.
"That's around the time when the golf driving range went away because that was a private commercial use. The zoo was pretty much grandfathered in as a proper use of a public park space," said Alethea Rebman, an attorney who serves as the preservation society's president.
The Kodak Hula Show was specifically allowed as long as it didn't charge admission.
The 1988 court ruling also led to rules requiring public parking and only park-related signage — no advertisements.
"Over the years since then, we've been kind of a watchdog group. And we have standing with the court if the attorney general doesn't enforce the trust," Rebman told HPR.
The society is asking the Hawaiʻi Department of the Attorney General to take a closer look at the arrangement between the CNHA and the city.
"If you want to take on this hula show as a good works kind of thing, a benefit for the public? Great, but you can't volunteer to do something expensive, and then say, 'Oh, well, I need to do something illegal to make up for it,'" Rebman said. "We don't agree that the Shell can be leased out by the city for any purpose."
The attorney general's office said it is still reviewing the society’s request. HPR also reached out to the Honolulu Office of Enterprise Services, which operates the Waikiki Shell, but has yet to hear back.
This interview aired on The Conversation on Feb. 27, 2024. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on HPR-1. Sophia McCullough adapted this story for the web.
