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

Honolulu, Hawaii Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island o ...

. It is located between

Waikiki Waikiki (; haw, Waikīkī; ; also known as Waikiki Beach) is a neighborhood of Honolulu on the south shore of the island of Oahu in the U.S. state of Hawaii. Waikiki is most famous for Waikiki Beach, which is one of six beaches in the district ...

and Moiliili to the east, and Kakaako and Honolulu Harbor to the west. King Street, to the north, marks the border with the neighborhood of

Makiki Makiki is an area of Honolulu, Hawaii, located northeast of downtown Honolulu, stretching east to west from Punahou Street to Pensacola Street and north to south from Round Top Drive/Makiki Heights Drive to Lunalilo Freeway. Punchbowl, an extin ...

. Ala Moana is situated along the southern shores of the island of

Oahu Oahu () (Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering place#Island of Oʻahu as The Gathering Place, Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over t ...

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 Ala Moana Beach Park is a free public park on the island of Oahu, U.S. state of Hawaii, located between Waikiki and downtown Honolulu. This park has a wide gold-sand beach that is over a half-mile (800 m) long. Protected by a shallow reef offsho ...

, 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: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

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 one or more dominant public buildings, which may also include a government building. Recently, the ...

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 neighborhood of Honolulu, Hawaii. Owned by Brookfield Properties, Ala Moana is the eleventh largest shopping mall in the United States an ...

, 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. A new name, Midtown Ala Moana, has been coined to promote the area.

History

The

ancient Hawaii Ancient Hawaii is the period of Hawaiian history preceding the unification in 1810 of the Kingdom of Hawaii by Kamehameha the Great. Traditionally, researchers estimated the first settlement of the Hawaiian islands as having occurred sporadicall ...

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 Bishop KGCOK RoK (December 19, 1831 – October 16, 1884), born Bernice Pauahi Pākī, was an '' alii'' (noble) of the Royal Family of the Kingdom of Hawaii and a well known philanthropist. At her death, her estate was the la ...

's holdings and later became part of the

Bishop Estate Kamehameha Schools, formerly called Kamehameha Schools Bishop Estate (KSBE), is a private school system in Hawaii established by the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Estate, under the terms of the will of Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop, who was a formal membe ...

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 The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

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 Re ...

. 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 Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) is an American architectural, urban planning and engineering firm. It was founded in 1936 by Louis Skidmore and Nathaniel A. Owings, Nathaniel Owings in Chicago, Illinois. In 1939, they were joined by engineer Jo ...

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, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

) 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