For more than 40 years, Waikiki was home to one of the oddest-shaped buildings in the state, the geodesic dome at the Hawaiian Village hotel.

Set slightly off the corner of Ala Moana Boulevard and Kalia Road, the Kaiser dome was the first of its kind in the world. Henry Kaiser and designer R. Buckminster Fuller planned on building many more.

The dome was built 55 years ago this week, on Jan. 15, 1957. It was 49.5 feet high and 149 feet in diameter. While buildings usually take months to erect, the geodesic dome was build from 575 prefabricated aluminum panels and assembled in two days. The cost was just $80,000.

Henry Kaiser flew to Hawaii to see the dome constructed, but when he arrived it was already finished. Reports are that Kaiser was tickled pink.

The dome could seat 1,800 people, with none having an obstructed view. It was Waikiki’s biggest nightclub.

"Henry Kaiser built the dome for my dad," says Jeff Apaka about his father, Alfred. "He normally performed in the Tapa Room, but the dome could handle bigger audiences. My father performed many concerts and even recorded two albums there."

Jim Nabors, Dick Jenson, Al Harrington and Don Ho also called it home.

While traditional architecture is made from rectangles, geodesics utilize triangles, which Fuller called the most stable shape in the universe. Dozens or thousands can be connected to each other to form spherical shapes of any size.

Geodesic domes enclose the greatest volume with the least amount of surface area, are extremely strong for their weight and thus are inexpensive.

Today there are about 500,000 geodesic domes in the world.

The dome’s grand opening was on Feb. 17, 1957. The Honolulu Symphony under conductor George Barati played selections from the Broadway hit "South Pacific." Apaka, called the "Golden Voice of Hawaii," sang "Bali Hai" and several other songs. The 2 1/2-hour event was telecast on NBC to an audience of 20 million.

The dome was made with movies in mind. The film "Around the World in 80 days" premiered there in 1957.

Producer Mike Todd and his wife Elizabeth Taylor attended the gala, and a photo of them can be found on the grounds of the Hilton Hawaiian Village.

Jeff Apaka was also there and says its wide-screen format was spectacular. "When David Niven was in the hot-air balloon over Paris, you felt like you were in the balloon with him."

In 1973 the dome hosted the dance revue "Paradise Found," featuring an exploding volcano, a 150-foot rainbow and seminude dancers.

"There was a buffet," says Jeff Apaka, "and my band and I performed after, from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. Some jokingly called the show ‘Paradise Lost.’"

Fuller returned to the dome in the early 1980s to host "The World Games."

Cookie mogul Wally "Famous Amos" filmed a variety TV pilot in the dome on Aug 23, 1987.

"I was your genial host for the ‘Wally Amos Happiness Show,’" says KSSK’s Michael W. Perry. "We had a very enthusiastic audience of about 2,000 (we talked about it on the radio quite a bit), and Wally did a great job."

"Our guests were Irene Cara (‘Fame’), Don Ho and the Don Ho dancers, former POW Capt. Jerry Coffee, and Scott Valentine from ‘Family Ties.’ I warmed up the audience, did the announcing and came onstage a few times to introduce someone honoring Wally." The pilot was never picked up.

Amos says the dome was a unique, memorable place. "It felt good to have a TV show there and be part of its history."

The dome exceeded its 40-year expected life span but was torn down in 1999 so that the hotel could build the 25-story Kalia Tower.

Bob Sigall, author of "The Companies We Keep" books, looks through his collection of old photos to tell stories each Friday of Hawaii people, places and companies. Email him at Sigall@Yahoo.com.