Image above: Facade of Talk Story Bookstore in Hanapepe, Kauai, Hawaii. Photo by Jon Letman.
Hanapepe was one of Kauai’s most vibrant communities until hard times fell. Competition from a new shopping center in Lihue and hurricanes in 1982 and 1992 closed businesses and wounded Kauai’s “biggest little town.”
But Hanapepe is definitely on the map with its active salt ponds, lively Friday-night cultural scene and now Kauai’s only bookstore. Since opening Talk Story Bookstore in 2004, owners Ed and Cynthia Justus have proven themselves savvy entrepreneurs and have garnered a string of awards, including a Better Business Bureau Torch Award this year.
The couple – die-hard Hanapepe supporters – have now launched a project that, even in a healthier economy, would be daunting.
Image above: The long abandoned Aloha Theater that is next door to the Talk Story Bookstore. Photo by Juan Wilson.
Adjacent to the bookstore stands the old Aloha Theatre, a 1930s, pink, tumbledown cinema with an art-deco facade that hints at the building’s erstwhile charms. The Justuses plan to renovate the main building and two smaller structures, salvaging roughly half the original materials, rejuvenating the vintage facade and transforming the interior under the name Aloha Theatre Marketplace.
They formed a nonprofit (Hanapepe Aloha Theatre & Cultural Renaissance Center) and are working with community volunteers and a general contractor through the permitting process.
With two levels and 6,500 square feet of usable space, they envision one dine-in and two takeout restaurants, six shops, restrooms and a 30- to 40-seat mini-theater/event space. When complete, the Justuses say, the project will allow existing businesses to expand and will invigorate commercial activity, while increasing property values and helping preserve a historical look consistent with the town’s character.
Ed Justus likens it to a “heart transplant for Hanapepe” that he hopes will bring new life.
Talk Story Bookstore 3785 Hanapepe Road PO Box 770 (mailing address) Hanapepe HI 96716 Phone: 808-335-6469 Email: talkstorybooks@hotmail.com Website: http://www.talkstorybookstore.com Monday - Thurs 10am to 5pm Friday - 10am to 9:30pm Saturday & Sunday - Closed See also: Civil Beat: http://www.civilbeat.com/posts/2011/08/09/12426-black-white-and-read-all-over .
1 comment :
I love books. I'm surrounded by books. I've been carting them around for over sixty years. Some really old & wobbly. I love Paul Theroux.I have UnderThe Hula Moon by Jocelyn Fujii wirh a forward by Paul. I browse, love & cherish it.
My house should have been in it. it's true I often use books for research. I'm trying to publish the first book I wrote- humor,on Kauai-on line. THE SCAM is light and frothy. A Doubleday Editor said, "She gets you there." It's visual & cute. Light=hearted. We need to laugh.
I am going to print 500 pages a day in my bettejo blog to keep my blog up to date. Won't give the plot away. A teaser. Come in & give it a read. Scroll around. When it's published I'll have a book signing at Talk Story.
I so miss Borders. Never went in without buying a book. Sigh. In my house you can't sit down without sitting on a book & every surface is 'papered.' Book cases in every room. Honest. Even the bathroom.
Oh, yeah, I am the political activist. The infamous Bettejo Dux. You've read my letters. Now read my blog & my book. Just check out bettejo in your search. Leave me a note.
Peace and love bettejo
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