Blue Hawaii, or at least the last 20 minutes of the film including the famous wedding scene, was filmed at the famed Coco Palms Resort on the Hawaiian island of Kauai. Elvis also stayed at the resort many times during his trips to Hawaii. Since that time, hundreds of thousands of dedicated Elvis fans from around the world have traveled to Kauai to see the beautiful lagoon where Elvis filmed the wedding scene, to see the bungalow he stayed in many times as well as the rest of the resort shown so well in the film. In 1992, Hurricane Iniki hit Kauai, heavily damaging this beautiful property. Sadly, for 14 years, the owners of the property just let it sit in shambles while in a dispute with their insurance company. Finally, in 2006, to the relief of many people, they sold the property to a group of investors who have vowed to rebuild to previous glory and retain Elvis's bungalow. Design, planning and permitting application work began in earnest. To date, millions of dollars have been spent. Building permits were finally issued. The permits had a deadline of three years to begin work. In 2007, the devastating economic decline began, soon spreading worldwide. As most of you know, many projects all over the world were brought to a halt. This, of course, has also affected the Coco Palms project. The current owners of the Coco Palms had asked for a three year extension on their permits, but it was not clear weather the Kauai Planning Commission would agree. By denying the extension of the permits, it would spell doom for this historic resort. There are those trying to have the resort demolished and turned into a park. Luckily, the Commission now agreed to a three year extension on the permits. There is still A LOT of work to be done if Coco Palms has to be turned in to a tourist spot again, but at least the project has not been cancelled. To be continued.

Read more: Coco Palms Saved (for now)

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