Ala Wai (freshwater way) Canal was at the heart of the Waikīkī Reclamation Project launched in the early 1920s “to reclaim an unsanitary and most unsightly portion of the city.” The duck farms and the millions of mosquitoes that stagnant ponds bred were culprits. Residents complained, the Territorial government responded; and work began in 1922. With the canal’s completion in 1928, the taro and rice fields, and the fish and duck ponds, all vanished. The reclaimed acres turned into apartments, stores, restaurants, hotels- and one of the world’s greatest destinations areas.

Begun in 1995 the Hawai‘i Convention Center is the largest public building of its kind in Hawai‘i. It is situated on 10 acres of land, and contains more than one million square feet of floor space, three acres of gardens, a 200,000 square foot exhibit hall, 100,000 square feet of meeting rooms, and a 36,000 square foot ballroom. Funded by the state of Hawai‘i, this world-class facility truly captures Waikīkī’s “Hawaiian Sense of Place” in its design, materials, gardens, and art forms.