Neal Blaisdell

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Neal S. Blaisdell, for whom Blaisdell Center is named, was Mayor of Honolulu from 1954 to 1968.

Neal Shaw Blaisdell (November 6, 1902 - 1975) served as Mayor of Honolulu from 1954 to 1968.

Born in Honolulu, Hawai'i of part-Hawaiian descent, Blaisdell attended Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania where he was quarterback of the school's football team (he was later inducted into the Bucknell Athletic Hall of Fame). He returned to Honolulu to become a teacher, high school coach and athletic director.

Blaisdell was elected mayor in 1954 as a member of the Hawaii Republican Party. As mayor, Blaisdell oversaw the construction of the Wilson Tunnel in Kalihi Valley and the construction of the Hawaii International Center, a multi-purpose complex with concert hall, convention center, exhibition hall and sports arena.

After Blaisdell's death, his successor Frank Fasi renamed the complex in his honor as the Neal S. Blaisdell Center.