English: Completed in 1964, this Modern arena was designed by Adrian Wilson & Associates in conjunction with the master plan laid out by the firm Merril, Simms & Roehrig, and was known as the Honolulu International Center until 1976, when it was renamed in honor of former Honolulu Mayor Neil S. Blaisdell. The building features a Saarinen-esque sculptural exterior with a large clamshell-like domed roof made up of multiple segments that bends sharply at the edges of the building before curving underneath, forming a ceiling above the exterior concourse, tapered concrete columns at the exterior, one-story service wings in the front and rear with concrete butterfly roofs and columns, rustic stone cladding, and curtain walls on the upper portion of the exteriors, exterior staircases, a pond surrounding the rear and sides of the arena with a distinctive mid century modern sculpture that compliments the arena, and a breezeway connecting the arena to the adjacent Neal S. Blaisdell Convention Center. The arena, being one of the best examples of architecture inspired by the work of Eero Saarinen’s modern sculptural designs, is sadly endangered by a proposed renovation that would greatly alter the building’s concourses, adding a large glass curtain wall, removing the unique “mushroom”-like sculpture that sits in the pond behind the building, and completely obscure the tapered columns, as well as demolishing the service buildings that sit alongside the concourse. Additionally, the plans call for the demolition of the adjacent Neal S. Blaisdell Center and Blaisdell Concert Hall, irreparably harming the historic modern design of the concert hall and destroying what is left of the 1960s portion of the Blaisdell Center. Hopefully, a design far more sensitive to the original design of the modernist structures will be carried out.