PhotosLocation


La_Ronde_(restaurant) Latitude and Longitude:

21°17′34.4″N 157°50′34.8″W / 21.292889°N 157.843000°W / 21.292889; -157.843000
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

La Ronde (atop the Ala Moana Office Building)
La Ronde (atop in center of image)

La Ronde was a restaurant [1] in Honolulu, [2] Hawaii. Built in 1961 [3] and designed by John Graham, [4] it was the first revolving restaurant in the United States [5] (preceding the " Eye of the Needle" restaurant in Seattle) and the third [6] [7] of its kind (after [8] [9] the Florian Tower and the Cairo Tower) in the world. The restaurant is now closed.

Building

The restaurant was situated at 1441 [2] Kapi'olani Boulevard [4] in the Ala Moana district of Honolulu. It was located on the 23rd floor [5] [1] of the Ala Moana Building, [10] adjacent to the Ala Moana Complex shopping center.

The restaurant was 72 ft (22 m) in diameter with a 16-foot-wide (4.9 m) revolving carousel which rotated around a fixed core [4] and had a seating capacity of 162 guests. The office building has a total height of 25 floors and 298 ft (91 m) [2] including an observation deck at the top. [4] The rotational speed was 1 rotation per hour. [3]

History

The building was designed by John Graham Jr. [10] of the architectural firm John Graham & Company. The building was completed in 1960 [10] and inaugurated 21 November [5] [1] 1961. [3] At that time, it was the highest building [3] in Honolulu.

Graham received a patent for the revolving design in 1964 (US patent No. 3125189 [11]). Later, the restaurant was renamed "Windows of Hawaii" [4] but closed completely [3] in the mid-1990s. [4] The premises were converted to office space, and the floor was welded into place. [1]

There was another revolving restaurant in Hawaii, called Top of Waikiki. It was closed in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [12]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Going 'round Waikiki, 2006 Archived 10 May 2017 at the Wayback Machine Star Bulletin (accessdate 31 July 2016)
  2. ^ a b c Ala Moana Center Emporis (accessdate 31 July 2016)
  3. ^ a b c d e Ala Moana Building Archived 18 March 2015 at the Wayback Machine Ala Moana Center (accessdate 31 July 2016)
  4. ^ a b c d e f Ala Moana Center, Architectural History Report page 37-39 Archived 10 May 2017 at the Wayback Machine Mason Architects (accessdate 31 July 2016)
  5. ^ a b c Some Construction and Housing Firsts in Hawaii, 72nd Annual Report, 1963, page 108 (11) Archived 1 November 2018 at the Wayback Machine Hawaiian Historical Society (accessdate 31 July 2016)
  6. ^ A Brief History of Buildings That Spin Archived 17 June 2018 at the Wayback Machine Anthony Paletta, Gizmodo (accessdate 31 July 2016)
  7. ^ A Moveable Feast: A Brief History of the Revolving Restaurant Archived 22 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine J S Graboyes, Duckpie (accessdate 31 July 2016)
  8. ^ Revolving Restaurants in the Americas Archived 6 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine Phil Dotree, Interesting America (accessdate 31 July 2016)
  9. ^ Pie in the skies – revolving restaurants Archived 5 June 2016 at the Wayback Machine Jan Whitaker, Restaurant-ing through History (accessdate 31 July 2016)
  10. ^ a b c Towering Ties Archived 9 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine Briale Morand (accessdate 31 July 2016)
  11. ^ patent Graham 1964 Archived 6 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine Google patents (accessdate 31 July 2016)
  12. ^ Kato, Nicole (November 11, 2012). "Top of Waikiki". Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Archived from the original on November 20, 2018. Retrieved November 20, 2018.

External links

21°17′34.4″N 157°50′34.8″W / 21.292889°N 157.843000°W / 21.292889; -157.843000