PEARL HARBOR — Streams of visitors to the USS Arizona Memorial yesterday witnessed the demolition of a controversial business that had sprung up to meet tourist needs, but was competition for the nonprofit memorials and museums in the area.

The more than two-year run by the for-profit Pearl Harbor Visitor Center ended with sledgehammer blows bringing down thatched-roofed shops housed under a large white tent.

Acrimony remains among those who were forced to close, but the success of the tent operation has spurred the nonprofits nearby to offer visitors more.

John Bates, the tent operation's chief operating officer, said the removal of the center eventually might have been the right thing to do, but the timing to close it down now "was exactly wrong, and it was all politically driven and money driven."

Eighteen businesses and 150 employees were part of the tent operation, which offered food, souvenirs, shade and rest for visitors who sometimes wait for hours to see the Arizona Memorial.

One of the last of those, All American Burgers, will continue to operate out of a lunchwagon until April 30, when the tent business has to be gone completely, officials said.

"It's been pretty sad these past couple of days," said Catherine Kent, who works for a shuttle company at the center. "People come by and ask, 'How can we get a smoothie?' And I say, you can't, they've been evicted."

Alan Pearson and his wife, Pat, visiting from Iowa and sharing a turkey sandwich at All American Burgers, said the need for such a concession area was self-evident.

"Obviously, I think they need something like it because we're sitting here eating," Alan Pearson said. "If there's food anywhere else, we didn't see it."

The tent operation, if anything, has resulted in the neighboring historic attractions offering more.

ADDED AMENITIES

Frank Hays, Pacific area director for the National Park Service's Pacific West Region, said tables and umbrellas have been ordered for the Arizona Memorial visitor center, and the adjacent USS Bowfin Submarine Museum and Park has already added tables.

The Arizona visitor center sells snack foods, sandwiches and cold drinks, while the Bowfin sold hot dogs, recently added Subway sandwiches, and is considering adding other items such as pizza to its menu.

"It's our desire to make the visitor experience to the Arizona (and) the Pearl Harbor historic sites both enjoyable and as much of a valuable learning experience as possible," Hays said.

The park service is moving ahead with its own revamped visitor center, including a new gateway orientation and ticket sales center for the Arizona and Bowfin, along with the battleship Missouri and Pacific Aviation Museum-Pearl Harbor.

NEW CENTER COMING

National Park Service officials in February detailed plans for a $52 million replacement for the existing visitor center that will be larger, at 23,000 square feet, and involve renovating the theater and building new bathrooms and creating new exhibit space.

Work will begin in December, and the park service hopes to have the project completed by Dec. 7, 2009.

Visitors sometimes numbering 4,000 a day at the Arizona outpaced amenities. Recognizing that, businessman Patrick Brent stepped in with the tent operation on 6.4 acres of land that was leased by the Navy to the Hunt Building Co.

Hays said the park service needs the land to be vacant as it moves ahead with its redevelopment, which will include the tent concession land. Brent had argued for a month-to-month extension to keep the businesses open until something new replaced it.

But Hays said it would be "difficult to convince people to donate money to a project where we don't even know if we have the land to build (the new facility)."

The land comes under the control of the park service on May 1, and after that, the park service also would have to bid out anew any commercial concessions. The park service is examining what services are needed, Hays said.

Jerry Hofwolt, executive director of the Bowfin museum, said the tent operation provided a service to visitors, and there's been a "tremendous effort" to sustain that level of service.

There were impacts on revenue, Hofwolt said, adding he supports the Navy's plan to recover the land for the park service plan.

"I think that's the right answer" for the future of the historic sites, he said.

Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com.