For more than a half-century, Liliha has escaped big change.

In this small community bordered by bustling Kalihi, family-owned stores are the norm, and customers are often greeted by first name. Many of the low-rise structures were built in the 1950s and '60s — some still sport original neon signs — and more than a few shops in the neighborhood have celebrated their 50th anniversaries in recent years.

"The buildings are old. The neighborhood is old," said Clara Wakuzawa, as she sat a customer in her lone 1930s-era chair at the Cut-Rite Barber Shop on Kuakini Street. For 49 years, Wakuzawa has been cutting hair in the small, airy shop, always patting the back of her customers' necks with talcum powder before their haircuts.

Nowadays, most of her customers are seniors.

"The younger people go right to the salon," Wakuzawa said, with a half-smile.

As Liliha shop owners and residents prepare to celebrate their town in a festival today, many worry about just how long the neighborhood — and its beloved old-timers — can stave off big-brand retailers and developers. Already, the specter of change is real. In January, Longs Drugs announced plans to raze the 50-year-old building at the intersection of Liliha and Kuakini streets, formerly home to Midori Dressmaker. Also, three vintage buildings on Liliha Street are up for sale.

One of the structures houses Cut-Rite and Masu's Massive Plate Lunch, both community fixtures. The others are home to Jane's Fountain and Marukin Market, which also draw diehard customers.

Residents say they don't want to see the stores close, but they also fear establishments could be pushed out by increased rents or demolition plans.

LOCAL OWNERSHIP

The properties are owned by families who have strong ties to Liliha. For example, Wakuzawa's family owns the building Cut-Rite is in. And the family of Jane Nakasone, who runs Jane's Fountain, owns the two other Liliha structures that are up for sale.

All of the buildings are being sold because the families' matriarchs and patriarchs are getting older and can no longer manage the properties.

Wakuzawa said she would likely retire if she had to move out of the building. Nakasone said she plans to stay open as long as she can but declined to say anything more. Her boutique next to the eatery shut down on July 29.

"We're worried about Liliha," said state Rep. Corinne Ching, who represents the district, after ticking off all the buildings up for sale. "Here's a cultural asset of Hawai'i. Liliha actually is a treasure of cultural gems. We're sitting on a real tourist destination."

At the "I Love Liliha" festival, Ching will encourage attendees to support a "Save Our Liliha" campaign, which would push for the historic designation of buildings in the community and also seek out ways to help longtime, mom-and-pop shops stay open.

Without the old-time buildings and the family-run stores, Ching fears, Liliha will turn into its bigger, tougher cousin, Kalihi. "They'll strip-mall it," she said.

In the early 1900s, as immigrants earned their way out of Chinatown, many moved into Liliha and set up eateries, markets and general stores. Over time, backyard gardens and chicken farms disappeared to make way for more houses or shops.

But in the 1950s and '60s, growth all but stopped. People weren't moving in, and the younger generation started going elsewhere, looking for cheaper, newer housing farther from Downtown. These days, about 25 percent of Liliha's 20,000 residents are 65 or older. Over the next 25 years, the town is only expected to grow by about 1,300 people.

In 2003, Ching dreamed up the Liliha festival as a way of fostering pride in the neighborhoods. Some 1,500 people attended the first get-together. "The real mission was to bring this diverse community together," said Ching, R-27th (Liliha, Pu'unui). "When the community is strong, businesses prosper and there's less crime."

OLD-TIME FEEL

The community festival was also designed to make residents and visitors appreciate the old-time feel of Liliha before it's lost — and while it can still be saved. Ching says it's vital to recognize the community's longtime treasures, like Jane's Fountain.

People like Theodore Tseu have been returning to the small eatery, with its antique cash register and comfortable red booths, for decades. "This is one of their best dishes," Tseu says, pointing at his pig's feet soup with his spoon. "The saimin here is the best."

A jukebox sits at the back of the restaurant, under an old Pepsi-Cola clock. "We come for the food," said Elizabeth Sasaki, who has been coming to the eatery since she was a kid. Her daughter grew up on the local fare at Jane's Fountain, and now her grandson requests it.

"The food is always the same," she said, slurping on saimin as she let her cheeseburger cool on the side. "Just like homemade."

Across the street, at Cut-Rite Barber Shop, Minoru Tanaka is sitting on a bench and watching Wakuzawa at work. The 86-year-old often spends his afternoons here — with his barber and her customers. He has been coming to Cut-Rite since 1975.

Tanaka grew up in Liliha, where his mother would grow vegetables in tidy rows in the backyard. Over the years, he says, change has come slowly to the community. Small businesses, he added, have persisted, thanks to loyal customers.

"I like it as it is," Tanaka said. "I don't want anything to change here."

CHANGE INEVITABLE

It is the story in so many Hawai'i neighborhoods these days: Businesses and eateries opened in the 1940s and '50s are closing as owners reach retirement age and children choose not to pursue the family business.

Sesnita Moepono, chairwoman of the Liliha Neighborhood Board, says the cycle is often inevitable and unavoidable. Even Liliha, she says, will have to accept change.

"Are we asking private people to sacrifice or to give up what they have worked really hard for for the community's sake?" asked Moepono, who is running against Ching in the district's state House race. "People just kind of go with the flow.

"We understand sometimes people can't continue their businesses."

In contrast to Ching's pleas to leave the Midori Dressmaker building standing, Moepono supports the plan to build a Longs Drugs pharmacy in its place. She says the proposal would provide much-needed pharmaceutical services to elderly residents and add parking.

Paul Masuoka, the owner of Masu's Massive Plate Lunch, has seen plenty of community changes in the life of his eatery, which used to be in Kaka'ako and, later, at the site of the Wal-Mart superblock. He moved into Liliha 15 years ago.

At 62, Masuoka says he's not sure he would be able to move his restaurant again if he had to leave his present location. And, he says, he couldn't afford a rent increase.

"One of my very first bosses, when I was very young, told me, 'Nothing lasts forever,'" Masuoka said. "I've been very lucky so far. You just have to adapt."

Reach Mary Vorsino at mvorsino@honoluluadvertiser.com.