Downtown Hilo’s historic Palace Theater has a multitude of human fans. The Friends of the Palace Theater are now asking for community kokua to install two energy-efficient, ultra-quiet industrial ceiling fans in the auditorium.
According to Phillips Payson, executive director of the Palace, the “fan plan” would provide the almost-century-old art deco theater on Haili Street the cooling area of 102 regular-sized ceiling fans. The fans would augment the air-conditioning system installed in 2022.
“The No. 1 complaint from people attending events here at the Palace is still the heat in the theater, particularly with a full-house crowd,” Payson said. “With the full-house matinees, especially in the summertime, it can be sweltering.”
Some Palace event attendees have noticed the wing doors on both sides of the theater’s stage open during events, which could be a deterrent to cooling.
“We close them now for live events, but we do have them open during load-in time as people are bringing in their gear and stuff, and we do have some patrons and volunteers who do tend to open them during the live events which they’re continuously told not to. We’re trying to break that habit,” Payson said.
“We have been experimenting with the use of some blower fans in the ducting. It seemed to help keep the air moving and cool, so these overhead fans should have a pretty drastic effect, while not detracting from the overall work of the theater itself.”
The Friends of the Palace Theater, which is a nonprofit organization, has received a $20,000 grant from the Atherton Family Foundation and is seeking $10,000 in tax-deductible community donations to make the fan plan a reality.
“We’re hoping by the end of December to have the budget in the bank and get the project done in the first quarter of 2025,” said Payson. “The install will be pretty simple, and we’ll be able to do it during the week between the event schedule.
“We do have an electrical permit that’s been granted, so new wiring will be installed, but no significant upgrades will be required.”
Payson described it as “a manageable plan that will provide immediate relief to our valued patrons.”
“This is part of our overarching theater comfort campaign which started with the initial air-conditioning ask more than a decade ago,” he said. “That project was bid in a three-stage process. We’ve got phase one completed. The original company that did the design and the installation for the air-conditioning has now gone out of business, post-pandemic.
“So, in order to get phase two and phase three completed — which would be an additional unit out back to sufficiently cool the space under a full-house crowd — it’s going to be a $500,000-plus project. Plus, the time frame to get new bids, new plans, new permits, upgrading the specs from the project that was designed 15 years ago — with all new requirements coming down from the state and county level we have to make adjustments for — we’re looking at five years for anything to get approved and off the ground.”
Payson said the fan plan is a “redefinition of what that plan actually is.”
“We’re looking at $30,000 for the fans as opposed to $500,000-plus,” he reiterated. “So, we’re looking at steps we can take for the situation now rather than defining what these plans are for the next five or 10 years.
“Our audiences don’t have time to wait. Installing fans to move the air in the auditorium is the most cost-efficient way to improve the quality and experience of events at the Palace right now.”
To kokua, mail a check made out to Friends of the Palace Theater to 38 Haili St., Hilo, HI 96720, or visit hilopalace.com, click on support on the black menu bar, then choose “Fan Plan” to make an online donation or for more information.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.