Odeon Napier

In the coastal resort of Napier, in the Hawke’s Bay region of the North Island, the Plaza Cinema opened in 1932.

At some time it was renamed the Regent Theatre, but it was severely damaged by fire on 9th June 1944.

The building was unused for many years, until it was acquired by Robert Kerridge. He rebuilt it and re-opened it as the Odeon Cinema on 13th October 1960 with “Doctor in Love”, starring Michael Craig.

The Odeon Cinema closed on 10th September 1989 with a double bill of family action adventure “Karate Kid 3” and comedy thriller “See No Evil, Hear No Evil”.

In 2012 the area immediately around the former cinema was redeveloped, and a Farmers department store was built. However, a condition of the redevelopment project was that the cinema façade should be incorporated into it. And so, that can be seen, set back, between Farmers store and Stevens kitchenware shop (which leads into Farmers) - although it is not clear whether this is the original façade or, perhaps more likely, judging by its appearance, a recreation.

However, even if that is the case, it’s a nice reminder of the cinemas that once stood on this site.

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