Nearing Extinction? (Aku Tiki Daytona)
End is Near for Aku Tiki in Daytona Beach. 
Aku Tiki Inn, photo by John Holley Sad news from the Tiki Talk blog: the Aku Tiki Inn in Daytona Beach is slated for demolition. It is one of several hotels being torn down to make way for a massive new resort development. The new development, El Caribe, is to include over 1,000 hotel rooms and condos, and the resort will span 16 acres. The planning is in its "infant stages," according to lead developers George Anderson and Doug Cook's comments to the Daytona Beach News-Journal. The plans call for the work to start at the north end of the planned resort; the Aku Tiki Inn is at the south end, and no dates for the development work have been announced.
The plans would also take out the Traders Restaurant, which is attached to the Aku Tiki Inn. The Hawaiian Inn, which is just south of the Aku Tiki, is not included in the development.
The Aku Tiki has a few nice pieces of Witco art, from the days when William Westenhaver was hired to decorate the Hawaiian Inn - if those pieces haven't been spoken for already, you can be sure they will be - Witco collectors don't tend to drag their feet. In 2004, the Aku Tiki's signature Moai was damaged by hurricane Charley; it was replaced with a new one, faithful to the original, created by Florida artist Wayne Coombs.
[Humu Kon Tiki]
8:49:20 PM 
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