Arts District History + Map
1964: The Maui Redevelopment Agency is created and properties are acquired at the site of the Wailuku Municipal Parking Lot.
1984: Upon losing their home at the Old Kahului Fairgrounds' Territorial Building, Maui Community Theater (now known as Maui OnStage /MOS) moves into ʻĪao Theater.
1993: County of Maui purchases ʻĪao Theater. A year later, it is placed on the Hawaiʻi Register of Historic Places. In 1995, it is placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
1998: Maui Academy of Performing Arts (MAPA) purchases a 13,000 sq ft building at 2027 Main Street in Wailuku (the old National Dollar Store) as its new home. In 2016, it purchases two additional buildings: 2020 + 2050 Main Street (the Main Street Promenade).
2000: Wailuku Redevelopment Plan: The Economic Revitalization of Maui County’s Civic Center is prepared for the Maui Redevelopment Agency by the Maui County Planning Department.
2008: Wailuku First Friday begins; a monthly street festival held in the old downtown area at the beginning of each month.
2012: A County of Maui research project helps to develop and document Wailuku’s core values, beliefs, visuals and brand goals in a process coined reWailuku. Wailuku Town’s official tag line becomes “Small Town, Big Heart.”
2014: Maui Chamber Orchestra (est. 2010) moves to the historic ʻĪao Theater as its new performance “home,” which also hosts Maui Choral Arts Association (est. 2003), Maui Pops Orchestra (est. 2004), and Maui Youth Philharmonic Orchestra (est. 2005)
2015: A group of Wailuku champions (from both the private and public sector) attend the International Downtown Association Conference in San Francisco and confirm that art can be the core vehicle for Wailuku's neighborhood revitalization.
2016: County of Maui Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy Report identifies the creation of an arts and entertainment district in Wailuku as a vehicle to spur collaboration, to result in efficiencies of scale, and to grow the creative arts cluster (see p.59)
2017: The Wailuku Performing Arts Alliance is established to enrich the lives of Maui residents and visitors in partnership with the Wailuku Community Association and the County of Maui.
2018: County of Maui is awarded a 2-year national arts grant to support the planning and implementation of place-based pilot arts district programming in Wailuku called SMALL TOWN * BIG ART (ST*BA).
2019: County of Maui begins its three-phase Wailuku Town Improvement Project to rejuvenate the downtown as an arts district.
2020: The success of ST*BA prompts plans to expand the initiative as a public-private partnership (PPP) of the County, Maui Historical Society and the newly established nonprofit: Maui Public Art Corps, with a goal to establish an arts district and percent-for-art program.
2021: Imua Family Services acquires Wailuku's 7-acre Yokouchi Estate (Imua Discovery Garden) to create a community space for outdoor, nature based learning that includes a sculpture garden for island keiki.
2022: Mayor Victorino proposes a fiscal year 2023 planning, design and construction budget to the County Council to establish Hālau of ʻŌiwi Art at the Wailuku Municipal Parking Lot.
2022: A consortium of Wailuku arts organizations, residents, business leaders and decision-makers organize to create the Wailuku Arts District Management Plan.
1984: Upon losing their home at the Old Kahului Fairgrounds' Territorial Building, Maui Community Theater (now known as Maui OnStage /MOS) moves into ʻĪao Theater.
1993: County of Maui purchases ʻĪao Theater. A year later, it is placed on the Hawaiʻi Register of Historic Places. In 1995, it is placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
1998: Maui Academy of Performing Arts (MAPA) purchases a 13,000 sq ft building at 2027 Main Street in Wailuku (the old National Dollar Store) as its new home. In 2016, it purchases two additional buildings: 2020 + 2050 Main Street (the Main Street Promenade).
2000: Wailuku Redevelopment Plan: The Economic Revitalization of Maui County’s Civic Center is prepared for the Maui Redevelopment Agency by the Maui County Planning Department.
2008: Wailuku First Friday begins; a monthly street festival held in the old downtown area at the beginning of each month.
2012: A County of Maui research project helps to develop and document Wailuku’s core values, beliefs, visuals and brand goals in a process coined reWailuku. Wailuku Town’s official tag line becomes “Small Town, Big Heart.”
2014: Maui Chamber Orchestra (est. 2010) moves to the historic ʻĪao Theater as its new performance “home,” which also hosts Maui Choral Arts Association (est. 2003), Maui Pops Orchestra (est. 2004), and Maui Youth Philharmonic Orchestra (est. 2005)
2015: A group of Wailuku champions (from both the private and public sector) attend the International Downtown Association Conference in San Francisco and confirm that art can be the core vehicle for Wailuku's neighborhood revitalization.
2016: County of Maui Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy Report identifies the creation of an arts and entertainment district in Wailuku as a vehicle to spur collaboration, to result in efficiencies of scale, and to grow the creative arts cluster (see p.59)
2017: The Wailuku Performing Arts Alliance is established to enrich the lives of Maui residents and visitors in partnership with the Wailuku Community Association and the County of Maui.
2018: County of Maui is awarded a 2-year national arts grant to support the planning and implementation of place-based pilot arts district programming in Wailuku called SMALL TOWN * BIG ART (ST*BA).
2019: County of Maui begins its three-phase Wailuku Town Improvement Project to rejuvenate the downtown as an arts district.
2020: The success of ST*BA prompts plans to expand the initiative as a public-private partnership (PPP) of the County, Maui Historical Society and the newly established nonprofit: Maui Public Art Corps, with a goal to establish an arts district and percent-for-art program.
2021: Imua Family Services acquires Wailuku's 7-acre Yokouchi Estate (Imua Discovery Garden) to create a community space for outdoor, nature based learning that includes a sculpture garden for island keiki.
2022: Mayor Victorino proposes a fiscal year 2023 planning, design and construction budget to the County Council to establish Hālau of ʻŌiwi Art at the Wailuku Municipal Parking Lot.
2022: A consortium of Wailuku arts organizations, residents, business leaders and decision-makers organize to create the Wailuku Arts District Management Plan.
