From top: The centerpiece of the Duke Room; a 3D model of the current Clubhouse more clearly shows that Ossipo§’s design consists of six separate buildings; site prepara on for OCC’s current Clubhouse took place in April of 1963 and doors were oªcially opened in January of 1964.
FUN FACTS Some members were on the old site premises un l midnight of December 31, 1963. Firecrackers went o§ and tears were shed as they said goodbye to the old Club. The design and build of the Club’s second (and current) loca on cost around $1.2 million. A Board member at the me, Charlie Pietsch, was very instrumental in geing two banks to commit to a half-million dollar loan, with favor- able—somewhat shocking—terms. The old site lease was up on Oc- tober 30, 1963, but Roy Kelley—who was also a member of OCC—agreed to extend the tenure there un l the last day of the year. In February of 1963, the Planning Commiee reorganized to include the Beach Development Commiee, and was renamed to the Building Com- miee. Members included John Cline Mann, Ward Russell, Tom Wells, Keith Wallace, General Schmuck and Walter Collins. The furnishings in the dining room and bar were original John McGuire raan pieces. Chairs and tables came from Asia, and the upholstery from San Francisco, but it was put together on site to save me.
a low-rise building, and there were volleyball sand courts on both sides of the entryway to the main building. It was very open and at that time, there weren’t many people on the beach. In the late 1950s, the Club experienced some pitfalls and approved the building of a boardwalk between the Roy- al and the Moana, which allowed pedestrian tra±c on the beach instead of just on Kalākaua Avenue. Therefore, the Club was open from the mauka end to the makai end, allow- ing the public to go in and out. They could pass into the Hau Terrace, sit down, purchase booze and pay cash. OCC had become a place that people wanted to go to whether they were members or not. More and more each day, each week, each month, the Club’s whole image and atmosphere changed from one that was strictly Club to something that was semi-public and this had a very adverse eect upon the membership. This, among other things, had a direct eect on subsequent decisions to not remain at that site.
january / february 2024 | AMA 17
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