Kaimukī’s 90-year-old Queen Theater, once a busy neighborhood movie palace and now a boarded-up landmark, looks likely to stay dark after Honolulu’s administration told city leaders it will not prioritize taking over the building. The City Council had urged the administration to acquire the property and restore it as a community performance venue, but officials say cleanup costs and other constraints make a city purchase impractical for now. That leaves neighborhood advocates and council members hunting for Plan B while the iconic marquee continues to crumble.
In a written statement to Civil Beat, city managing director Mike Formby described the site as having “challenging site conditions,” citing lead-based paint, asbestos, mold and a lack of parking. He added that the administration wants to focus acquisitions on priorities such as affordable housing. Formby’s office concluded that those hazards, combined with limited city resources, place the Queen low on the city’s acquisition list.
Council Chair Tommy Waters initially proposed setting aside $4 million to buy the theater, an amount that drew immediate pushback from city staff. “Four million dollars is roughly half of our operating budget,” Kevin Auger, director of the Department of Housing and Land Management, told the council, according to Civil Beat. Waters later trimmed his request to $2 million and said he hoped the state might help cover the remaining cost.
Owner’s timeline and permit activity
Adoree Yu, who has legal authority over the property, told council members in 2024 that she has a three-phase plan to restore the theater, starting with exterior work and aiming to complete auditorium renovations by the end of 2026, according to Honolulu City Council records. The Honolulu Star-Advertiser also reported that a permit application to refurbish the theater’s sign and marquee was filed late last year, although it is unclear whether permits for larger interior work have been submitted.
Neighbors want it back, but who will run it?
Local preservationists say the Queen could make a comeback as a multipurpose arts venue, but they acknowledge that operating a full-time theater would require a larger and better-funded organization. “Our group would have to become a bigger group,” Friends of Queen Theater president Mahlon Moore told Hawaii News Now, underscoring the gap between neighborhood enthusiasm and the realities of staffing, fundraising and programming.
Condemnation is possible but slow
The City Council voted in late 2024 to ask the administration to prepare to acquire the Queen Theater, including starting condemnation proceedings if needed, but officials warned that a formal eminent-domain process could drag on for years. The property is assessed at about $3.17 million, according to reporting by the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, and there is still no clear answer on who would pay for both the purchase and hazardous-material cleanup…