This is actually rather sad news, for the economy of the Big Island, the employees of the Hotel, and the Hotel itself. Hopefully, the hotel can get itself turned around quickly...

The Mauna Kea Beach Hotel closed indefinitely yesterday because of structural damage from the Oct. 15 earthquakes, hotel operator Prince Resorts Hawaii announced.

Most of the hotel's approximately 420 employees will be laid off early next year, after the holidays.

The Mauna Kea already had closed more than 140 of its 310 rooms after the earthquakes as a precaution while structural assessments were being done. But an engineering consultant's report submitted yesterday identified new structural damage in sections of the roof, which was categorized as a significant safety hazard that should be addressed as soon as possible, the hotel said.

The hotel will undergo repairs, which Prince Resorts Hawaii President Donn Takahashi said are initially expected to take "many months."

"There is nothing more important to us than the safety of our guests and employees, and after reviewing our consultant's report, we immediately decided to close the hotel," Takahashi said in a statement. "The hazard is not necessarily imminent, but does pose an unacceptable risk, especially in light of the ongoing seismic activity of the past few weeks.
http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061202/BUSINESS/612020350

I read this with true sadness, first of course for the employees.

Mauna Kea is an amazing hotel in a number of ways, including the open-air architecture, lighting, and the fabulous, vast art collection which ranges from a 13th century Buddha to fabulous Hawaiian quilts made for the hotel by the best quilters of the time. It is from an era gone by to be sure. But it is still very classy, and completely unique. We prefer to stay at Hapuna Prince next door and just use the MK's facilities, since the rooms at Prince are much bigger and nicer.

It will be interesting to see what its Japanese owners can do with it now, inasmuch as the MK was already in need of a major renovation, with its biggest overt problem being the old and small rooms. The hotel is probably just too small by today's standards, so I question its economic viability at all.

As for its history, it was built by Laurance Rockefeller in 1965. Designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, the hotel is a tiered, four-story structure whose rooms surround palm-filled inner courtyards.

In what proved to be a major visionary modern tourism decision, he chose a patch of black lava in an inaccessible area (the current coastal highway wasn't built and it took hours to drive there), with two beautiful beaches to create a work of art that gave the Big Island a resort destination of legendary, historic proportions.

Very sad indeed. I can't help but wonder if a major renovation had been on the drawing board sometime during the next few years, and this hurried it along. A tough situation for many workers. One might think that a few staff members will be transferred to the Hapuna, but I've got to think there are only so many jobs there.