Post #703379 by msteeln on Mon, Dec 30, 2013 5:24 PM

I was not bemoaning the loss of the IMP in its current and decayed state. You may not have actually read my posts.
I did read it and wasn't really replying to anybody's comments here but more in response to local talk, as I mentioned I'm pretty much with TC in sadness seeing the last half way decent space left in Waikiki being replaced by something worse. I had my lingering luv for the IMP even as it devolved, it had hidden charms, was tranquil, and still kinda comfortable with local music around the food court. However, replacing blase' modern era buildings, non-Hawaiian artifacts, and Kings Alley's style fakiness (all of which I've always despised) isn't that huge of a loss. I've watched so much better be ignored or destroyed for nothing around here that I reserve my tears for the truer places and people that actually mattered. I have been around here (Oahu) a while and watching junk replace junk doesn't hurt so much. If they'd torn the IMP down in the 60s THAT would have been tragic, and letting it go the way of mere rubbish filled kiosks was stupid. But the writing has been on the wall for a loooong time and we knew there was no stopping or improving it, money and influence rules and post-1970 it's made Hawaii much less than it should be. We'll see the historic Natatorium go soon and then only the old hotels and a few obscure gems will be left, not much to care about in today's Waikiki, even the famed beach sand came from somewhere else!