Richard Estenson shows off the bamboo bar in the Pacific Showroom, the newest component at his Hangar Hotel complex. The 10,000 square foot island-themed club will be open to the public for the first time on August 18 for the Hangar Dance - USO Style. Photo by Phil Houseal
Details:
You can get your first look inside the Pacific Showroom on Saturday, August 18, when the Flash Backs perform for the next Hangar Dance. The USO style event runs from 7 to 11:30 p.m. Admission is $20 per person. For information, call 830-997-9990 or visit www.hangarhotel.com.
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Pacific Showroom:
Back to the Islands
by Phil Houseal
Aug 8, 2007
Tiki torches flicker, palm trees sway, and the echoes of steel drums dance across the ocean waves.
It's not the South Pacific - but it's south of Fredericksburg. And the Pacific Showroom is as close as you'll get to that idyllic scene without a passport.
Local businessman, pilot, and engineer Richard Estenson is adding the 10,000 square feet Pacific Showroom to an airport complex that already includes the Hangar Hotel, Conference Center, Airport Diner, and Officers Club.
Guests will lounge in rattan chairs at a bamboo bar under thatched umbrellas and 30-foot palm trees, sipping frozen coconut cocktails while listening to music from the 1940s and watching the tide roll in on two 50-foot murals.
This ambitious add-on fits with the ambitious dreams Estenson had when he conceived of the airport complex. In a word: fantasy.
"I believe in total immersion," the former engineer said. "When people come to this airport, they escape to a different time. We do this is on a miniscule way whenever we go to the movies, because it takes us from where we are today."
Estenson strives to create an environment that stimulates all the senses, noting, "This is theater. You tell stories."
He also insists on accuracy.
"I research everything," he stressed. "I am an engineer by birth. When I do something, I consider every little detail."
Before starting this project, he and his wife, Rosemary, traveled to Maui for inspiration and research. The attention to detail shows, from the fish images scored and stained in the floor, to the cascading drains in the bathroom sinks. Bar manager Heather O’Brien even created a themed martini - the Pacific Paradise, "an emerald green elixir that makes you sway with the palm trees."
Beneath the tropical flora lurks a high-tech system that heightens your experience. Estenson created seating islands around the palm trees. The plants conceal LED lighting and a sound system tailored to control levels at each area. Vintage cars rotate on turntables. Giant Tiki heads frame a laser-light projector screen. A live DJ can broadcast Caribbean and island music from the fisherman's hut perched near the stage, while a smoky tide rolls over the dance floor.
The Pacific Showroom complements and extends the theme of the entire complex.
"When guests check in to the hotel, they want to go back in time," Estenson said. "We don't want to lose that feeling when you go to dinner or to an event. You should be able to move from one place to another and not change the time period."
The time period Estenson evokes is World War II.
"The theme is all in the 1940s, because there is a lot of romance in that era," he explained. "There is the tie-in with Admiral Nimitz; the values were there; a lot of sacrifices were made. People went off to war, and left wives and lovers here. Plus, when you look at the islands, that's where you think about going for vacation."
Estenson, who also created the Fredericksburg Brewery, acknowledges he has encountered more than few skeptics along the way.
"Oh yeah. There are naysayers all over the place. You just ignore them. I think we have to instill in our children that you need to believe in what you do. Make sure you have a good understanding and research all you do. Then, when you make the decision, you go for it."
In the end, it's all about creating an experience.
"You only have so many weekends in a lifetime, so you might as well have something that's fun, as well as something that's quality. Besides," he added, "when you come here, you can go to the islands without having to spend eight hours on an airplane, and it's a whole lot cheaper!"
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