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Akana Store

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c. 1925. Mamalahoa Hwy., opposite Haukapila St., Kealakekua
  • (Photograph by Augie Salbosa)

A steeply pitched gable roof accentuates the height of this two-story building. A pent roof shelters a second-story centered loggia and a first-story entrance lanai. Utilizing board-and-batten construction on the sides, the facade was finished in the more modern tongue-and-groove. The segmental-arched, double-door entrance and flanking windows have distinctive frames, elevating the building above the commonplace.

Originally constructed by Ng Chin Akana as a movie theater, the first in the Kona area, this building was converted into a parchment coffee mill in the early 1930s. The family later operated a general merchandise store and then a curios shop in the building, while living upstairs. During this period, the rear theater auditorium was removed. The curios shop, which included lauhala products (items made from the leaves of the pandanus tree) made by Mrs. Akana and other family members, closed in 1946. Since that time the building has been used primarily for residential purposes.

Writing Credits

Author: 
Don J. Hibbard
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Data

What's Nearby

Hawaii Community Federal Credit Union
Kealakekua Public Library
Kona Historical Society Museum (H. N. Greenwell Store)
Christ Church Episcopal
Aloha Theatre

Citation

Don J. Hibbard, "Akana Store", [Kealakekua, Hawaii], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/HI-01-HA12.

Print Source

Cover: Buildings of Hawaii

Buildings of Hawaii, Don J. Hibbard. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2011, 255-255.

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