For a full schedule of events or for more information, visit the theater’s website at honokaapeople.com, call the theater at 775-0000 or email hpt@honokaapeople.com.
BY MELORA PURELL
SPECIAL TO WEST HAWAII TODAY
As moviegoers slide into the worn leather seats of the cavernous Honokaa People’s Theatre, they are carrying on an 80-year tradition of cinema in Hawaii.
Hollywood’s heyday was also the heyday of sugar plantations on the Hamakua coast, and Honokaa was the economic and social hub for the community.
Today, the story has a new twist; the power to run the film projector and pop your buttery corn no longer comes from sugar cane bagasse or imported fossil fuels. The electricity comes from the sun, collected by new photovoltaic panels on the old theater’s roof.
Built by the Tanimoto family — along with four other Big Island movie theaters in the 1930s — the Honokaa theater was the largest and one of three in Honokaa town.
“In the 1930s it was a big boom,” said Phaethon Keeney, theater manager and the owner’s daughter. “And it was a lot easier to fill the theater back then. Movies were the focus of social life for plantation workers.”
The theater “is a classic example of cinema design in Hawaii, with a melding of ornate art deco style and practical Japanese engineering,” said Phaethon Keeney, adding its 625-seat capacity is still the largest on the island.
Tawn Keeney, a Honokaa general practitioner, bought the theater 25 years ago with the intention to carry on its role as the main focus of entertainment and culture for the town. In the late 1980s, as Keeney was taking over management from the Tanimoto family, the Hamakua Sugar Co. plantation was declining, the bustle of Honokaa town was slowing and businesses were shutting down. Keeney kept the theater open and movie prices low, providing a community space for everyone.
“We showed not only second-run movies from the U.S., but also films from Japan and the Philippines,” he said.
Taking on maintenance of an aging building in a depressed rural area was full of challenges for the new owner and his family.
“We lived behind the screen for awhile when I was young, as we were doing remodeling,” Phaethon Keeney said. “Mrs. Tanimoto still lived in the upstairs apartment, and she would call us up for breakfast every morning.”
Tawn Keeney painted the theater’s entire interior by himself, climbing a ladder every evening after work for months on end.
Maintenance and repairs to the building have been extensive. The Keeneys have renovated the bathrooms and dressing rooms, moved the screen back so there is a dance floor and a larger stage area, installed new lighting and sound equipment, and purchased a new projection system.
“We want to make the space as multiuse as possible. That is what is best for the town and will help the theater survive,” Tawn Keeney said.
Over the years, the theater continued its initial function of screening movies, but added public meetings and live events to the schedule.
“Honokaa is a pretty quiet town and these are the few things that make it feel like it’s got something going,” Phaethon Keeney said.
School talent shows and concerts performed by Honokaa High School’s music program are some of the events that fill the theater to capacity. The Keeneys also opened the theater as a rehearsal space for students when the school was closed for furlough Fridays.
“It was so sad to see the kids lugging their instruments back and forth, but we loved to hear the music,” Phaethon Keeney said.
As part of ongoing renovations, the theater installed a new roof last year, and its repaired, large surface area solved more than just leak problems.
“A community member here had been gung-ho about solar. He found some grant funds to do a feasibility study for solar power generation. With our huge roof, we have the potential to generate a lot of power,” Phaethon Keeney said.
Study results led the Keeneys to install a photovoltaic net metering system.
“It was obvious; we could zero out our electric costs by generating electricity during the day and buying back the electricity in the evening,” she said. “A local contractor gave us the best proposal at the best price, and it was installed in just one week. Knowing that we are using a local family to do the work fits in with our philosophy. Everything clicked.”
The Keeneys have a vision to move the theater toward even more sustainable practices in the future.
“We would love to offer local, organic food at the concession,” Phaethon Keeney said. “We have made a delicious soda from herbs from the school garden in Waimea and cane sugar from Maui, but wouldn’t it be great to have organic Hawaiian popcorn, too?”
Phaethon Keeney knows a thing or two about popcorn, after all. Growing up in a movie theater has its benefits.
“I know every way to eat popcorn — Asian, Mexican, American,” she said. “I have even made popcorn enchiladas.”
For a full schedule of events or for more information, visit the theater’s website at honokaapeople.com, call the theater at 775-0000 or email hpt@honokaapeople.com.