Free salsa dancing lessons and movie nights, hypnosis and fire shows, beer gardens and farmers markets — Anaina Hou Community Park is growing up.
It’s not just mini golf anymore, it’s a community gathering place, a rentable event space, and somewhere to pau hana and somewhere to take the family for a fun evening.
“The Kilauea Theater is closed, we don’t have many places we can hold events and the community is so fortunate to have this,” said Mary Peterson with the Kauai North Shore Community Foundation.
Peterson was one of dozens milling through the new Porter Pavilion complex at the Sunday celebration of its opening.
The complex has a 4,000-square-foot entertainment space with a large screen for movies, offering the potential for concerts, theater and community events. It includes a certified kitchen, restrooms, classrooms and meeting rooms, an events lawn and an administration office.
The multi-million-dollar complex is part of the vision of Anaina Hou founders Bill and Joan Porter, who started the community park out of the desire to build a new movie theater after Kilauea Theater closed.
Project organizers said the complex’s price tag is somewhere between $4 million and $7 million. The community park project is still ongoing; the plan is to break ground on a new playground next to the Porter Pavilion in August.
“We’re seeing those dreams come to fruition and it’s more than mini golf now,” said Thomas Daubert, executive director.
He was talking story with locals and visitors exploring the new space on Sunday, sharing the responsibility of host with operations director Collin Darrell and various volunteers.
“We have events and things going on throughout the week — farmers markets and Wednesday fire shows, and the hypnotist on Saturdays,” Darrell said. “We’re going to add free movie nights, and when we’re not using it, it’s available to rent for the community, and we have a liquor license.”
The rack rate for the space is $5,000 and there are discounts available for kamaaina and non-profit organizations.
Free events are supported by concessions sales.
The goal is to provide a quality place for the community to gather, and at the same time, give visitors a taste of the local aloha spirit.
The fire show, Darrell explained, is a good example of the ohana feeling Anaina Hou Community Park is all about. That show opened Wednesday with about 160 people attending.
Events manager Jo Valarie Gonzalez said it’s been a hit with locals and visitors alike.
“It has a backyard, local feel,” she said. “It’s a different experience that people really like.”
While Anaina Hou Community Park started with mini golf and a dream, organizers and community members alike are celebrating the versatile meeting place it has become.
“We’ve already booked two events to host here this year,” Peterson said. “It’s so amazing to have. It’s well thought-out, culturally based and a wonderful adjunct to what they already have here.”
