OCC HISTORY
Woolley to design new structures. A grand opening of the new physical structure for the 30-plus-year old organization was held on Valentine’s Day of 1941. Then again in 1949, the Board commissioned the illustri- ous Vladimir Ossipoff to refresh the space. By 1963, the lease on the land on which the Outrigger Canoe Club existed was once again set to expire. A perfect storm of events and failed negotiations contributed to the Club’s need to relocate, and ultimately, remaining at its original site proved to be far too expensive. Then owners of the property, Queen Emma Estate, got into negotiations with Sheraton hotels to take over the prime real estate. However, the deal fell through and the property was offered to—and quickly accepted by—Roy C. Kelley, an en- trepreneur who went on to be credited with transforming leisure vacationing in Hawai‘i. Roy and his wife Estelle got their entrepre- neurial start by building small apartment buildings in Waikīkī, and in 1947, they built their first hotel with 50 rooms for all to en- joy, distinguishing itself from the only other hotels in Waikīkī—The Royal Hawaiian, Moana Surfrider and Halekulani—which catered to the wealthy. Throughout the 1950s they built a few more hotels accessi- ble to the average traveler, pioneering the idea of family-style hotel rooms. In 1967, on the land where Outrigger Canoe Club plant- ed roots, they built the Outrigger Waikīkī, the first hotel to bear the Outrigger name. The Kelley’s expanded on the Outrig- ger chain throughout the 1970s, including the addition of Outrigger Waikīkī Surf, Outrigger East, Outrigger West, Outrigger Surf and Outrigger Village. In the mid ’80s, most of the properties in their three hotel chains—the Outrigger Hotels, the Reef Hotels and the Waikīkī Hotels—took on the Outrigger name when they consolidated
“As we were standing on the beachfront boundary, surfing legend and Olympic swimming champion Duke Kahanamoku came up and said, ‘Mr. Kelley, I’ve had my canoe stored on this land for years. Would you mind if I continued to keep it here until you start construction?’ Roy replied, ‘I would be honored if you would do that.’” —Dr. Richard Kelley
This page: An aerial view of the beachfront from Outrigger Waikīkī Beach Resort. Opposite page: the original location of OCC is now home to the hotel, but still provides access to the water sports of old Hawai‘i.
14 AMA | July / august 2022
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker