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. 1 2 3 4 Going 'round Waikiki, 2006 Archived 10 May 2017 at the Wayback Machine Star Bulletin (accessdate 31 July 2016)
  2. 1 2 3 Ala Moana Center Emporis (accessdate 31 July 2016)
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Ala Moana Building Archived 18 March 2015 at the Wayback Machine Ala Moana Center (accessdate 31 July 2016)
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Ala Moana Center, Architectural History Report page 37-39 Archived 10 May 2017 at the Wayback Machine Mason Architects (accessdate 31 July 2016)
  5. 1 2 3 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. 1 2 3 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.

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

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