In 1946, Hawaiian Electric Co. published a series of advertisements in magazines and newspapers around the islands under the banner, “Building today for tomorrow’s needs.” It was HECO’s vision of what Oahu’s future might look like.

The retro-futuristic sketches highlighted a willingness to dream about the future. HECO  later compiled the drawings, along with some explanation of why it might look like that, in a publication called “Honolulu of Tomorrow.”
 
As our series on the history of HECO wraps up today with an interview with HECO President Alan Oshima about the future of the utility, we thought you might like to see another view of what HECO was thinking, this one from 70 years ago. We’ve republished that here, with the permission of Hawaiian Electric.
 

Support Independent, Unbiased News

Civil Beat is a nonprofit, reader-supported newsroom based in Ჹɲʻ. When you give, your donation is combined with gifts from thousands of your fellow readers, and together you help power the strongest team of investigative journalists in the state.

 

About the Author