Endangered

Tonga Room’s Final Fate to Be Decided This Week

Photo: Pargon/Flickr

In a special joint meeting of the Planning and Historic Preservation Commissions this Thursday, the final fate of the Tonga Room as well as the fate of the huge condo tower project at the Fairmont Hotel will receive its final votes. As Grub Street has discussed multiple times in the past, no matter what happens to preserve pieces of the Tonga Room’s oh-so-kitschy interior, some spirit of the place — and probably that pool and floating bandstand — will be lost, given that a full demolition will have to take place. As Timothy Frye in the Historic Preservation Department tells us, “The draft Environmental Impact Report, which is being certified this week, requires the developer to document, salvage, and store all the pieces of Tonga Room until a new location can be found for re-installation (likely by a third party).”

We smell a project for Smuggler’s Cove owner and Tiki enthusiast Martin Cate! In any event, we’re just giving you fair warning to get your over-sweet Scorpion Bowls while you can, because at the very least the place will soon be closed for a long while.

Earlier: The Tonga Room: Probably Still Endangered After All [Grub Street]
The Full Case for Saving the Tonga Room [Grub Street]

Tonga Room’s Final Fate to Be Decided This Week