In the early 1940s Pahala Theatre was built. By the early 1960s, C. Brewer & Co. had decided to phase out all of the camps and move homes and other structures to Pahala. At this time C. Brewer explored other alternatives to diversify into, eventually settling on macadamia nuts. Considered a weed in their native Australia, macadamia trees flourished into a new niche market for Hawaii. The early 1970s demonstrated how influential the world's economy can be to Pahala. The 1970s brought about fuel shortages, and developing nations began to produce cheaper sugar. During the 1970s C. Brewer proposed the perfect opportunity to diversify. A gentleman by the name of Bob Shleser had proposed to Doc Buyers (then CEO of C. Brewer) the idea and technology to convert the Pahala Sugar Mill to produce ethanol fuel from sugarcane. Shleser also proposed that Hawaii County pass a bill that would require 25% of all vehicles on the island to be retrofitted to use ethanol by 1985. Doc Buyers, however, decided against it. By the late 1970s, with sugar's looming demise, C. Brewer instead decided to expand its macadamia nut operations. They began to phase out sugarcane fields that encircled Pahala, converting them to grow macadamia trees. By the mid 1980s it was apparent that sugar had seen its heyday. Honuapo's mill had closed in 1972 and its workers transferred to Pahala. But other sugarcane plantations around the island began to close as well. Still, the Pahala Sugar Mill continued to produce record tons per acre, but at a steep price. At the time it cost $1.50 to produce , which would then sell for $0.60. Congress had proposed bills that placed huge tariffs and taxes on imported sugar. But economically, even those measures could not stave off the inevitable. In the 1990s, it was all too evident that sugarcane had lost its lustre. C. Brewers' investors were getting older and demanded Doc Buyers cut their losses and liquidate. In 1994, Buyers made a last-ditch effort to keep the mill running. But it required all workers to take drastic pay cuts; most would have had to accept minimum wage. The workers refused. That sealed the fate of the sugar legacy in Pahala. The last sugarcane was hauled and processed at the mill. Over the next two years the mill was dismantled and sold as parts to other manufacturing plants around the world.