About 300 dignitaries attended the reopening of the newly renovated Royal Hawaiian Center grove earlier today. 

The completion of the $2 million project ends five-months of construction efforts in Waikiki and transforms the heart of the center into a place for interpretive heritage and guest hospitality and state-of-the-art performances.

The redevelopment, which builds on an earlier $120 million renovation of the center, fully opens the garden to Kalakaua and Seaside Avenues and stretches view planes to the Royal Hawaiian Hotel and the Sheraton Waikiki.

In addition to the enhanced stage and water-feature garden, there is also a 942-square-foot hospitality and guest services building, where visitors can see historic films and attend educational talks.

Pictures and story boards will better educate guests about Ka`auhelemoa, the supernatural rooster from whom the place takes its name; Waikiki place names and landmarks; ruling chiefs of Oahu; and Kamehameha Schools, which was bequeathed the land underneath the center by Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop in 1884.