 Maui Community theater first occupied the theater in 1984 for $200 a month, and community efforts commenced to help save the Iao from demolition.In July 1993, Maui County paid $882,000 to buy the site and the theater itself from the Lyons family trust after plans to demolish or convert the theater for other purposes materialized and spent $1.8 million on a partial restoration.The Hawaii State Register of Historic Places listed the Iao as the oldest theater building in Hawai'i on June 24, 1994.