The Municipal Theatre, Hastings, is one of the last remaining theatres in New Zealand built by Henry Eli White (1877-1952). It is also one of the earliest buildings designed in New Zealand using the Spanish Mission style, and the lavish Art Nouveau interior is also important, being probably the largest and most complete example of its type in New Zealand. Henry Eli White was born in Dunedin. His father initially employed him as a building contractor while Henry attended night school. Following a successful contract to design a huge tunnel from the Waipori River to the city of Dunedin, White received a number of design contracts. In 1900 White received his first contract to design a theatre for John Fuller and Sons in Christchurch. They were to commission White again in the construction of the Edwardian-Baroque styled His Majesty's Theatre, now known as the St James, Wellington (Category I his-toric place, Register No. 3639). When finished (1912) the latter was the largest theatre in Australasia and the first steel framed reinforced concrete theatre in New Zealand. Of particular note was White's use of the cantilever principle, which allowed the weight of the dress circle and gallery to be transferred through joists to the main steelwork, avoiding the use of columns that would hinder the audience's view of the stage. White's fame spread across the Tasman, where he was commissioned to design a number of theatres, including the State Theatre in Sydney (1929) which is now recognised as one of the finest picture theatres in the world. Throughout his career White was to design 130 theatres. One of the few remaining New Zealand theatres is the former Hastings Municipal Theatre. During the 1900s the Hastings Borough Council began to give consideration to building a new town hall for council business and a venue for concerts. The Council's first town hall had hosted professional troupes since the 1880s. In 1891 the Town Hall Company was wound up and the Hastings Volunteers leased the hall. The latter renamed the hall the Princess Theatre. The theatre was sold in the 1890s, and from the late 1890s it became a venue for moving pictures. By the early 1900s the theatre was considered a fire risk and too small for travelling troupes. In 1911 the Borough Council acquired a site on the corner of Hastings Street South and Heretaunga Street North, adjacent to the Council buildings. Two sec-tions of land were acquired, for £1400 and £1762-10 respectively. In January 1914 a loan of £29,300 was raised to build both a Council Chambers and thea-tre. Henry White was chosen by the Council to design the theatre. Not long be-fore the tender notice was advertised a petition was raised to change the orien-tation of the theatre to Hastings Street. This was met with a counter petition in favour of leaving the building as it had originally been planned facing Here-taunga Street. The former won out. The decision to build theatre with a capacity of 1300 in a town with only 7000 inhabitants represented a considerable vote of confidence in the venture, as well as the town's future. The lowest tender of Bull Brothers of Napier (£12,000) was accepted and the foundation stone was laid on 21 April 1915. White's design was for an exterior in the Spanish Mission style, a style of architecture that was to become popular in Hawke's Bay after the 1931 earthquake. Inside White chose an Art Nouveau style, with richly ornate plaster decoration, coloured lead light windows and a magnificent sunburst chandelier. It was a combination of styles that White would again use for the now demolished Midland Hotel, Wellington (1917). In the end, the theatre cost just under £16,000 and although the construction proceeded satisfactorily, the absence of White, who was by then domiciled in Sydney and came over infrequently, did not sit well with the Council. White had a site repre-sentative, a Mr Simpson, but this did not assuage the Council, which also criticised White for not favouring New Zealand firms in tenders for fittings. The Hastings Municipal Theatre officially opened on 18 October 1915, despite not being quite finished. The first performance was given by the Hastings Operatic Society. Before the building was completed, the Hastings Borough Council had also agreed to lease the rights to show pictures to A. P. McCormack on nights when the theatre was not required for other purposes. Six months after the opening of the theatre the Council took over the running of the picture business, and this was later run in conjunction with the 'Cosy Picture Theatre'. The building was used for more than just theatrical and musical performances and movies. In a now celebrated event, Jerry Monahon fought Pat Gleeson in the theatre on 26 April 1922. The building survived the Hawke's Bay Earthquake in 1931. However, major re-construction and modification was undertaken to strengthen the building. The local architectural firm of Davies Garnett and Phillips drew up the plans for the reconstruction and Fletcher Construction undertook the work. The stage and dressing rooms were rebuilt in reinforced concrete, and the auditorium strength-ened. The tower roofs were removed and replaced with a different design. During 1930s the Municipal Theatre continued to be used as a movie theatre under lease to J. C. Williamson Picture Corporation and Kemball Theatres, which also ran a number of other pictures theatres leased from the Hastings Borough Council. In 1940 the 'Municipal' was leased to H. B. Amusements Ltd. In the late 1980s and early 1990s the theatre underwent considerable refurbishment. This included alterations to the Front of House, kitchen and bar and the building of a walkway between the theatre and the former Municipal Chambers. In 1994, bathrooms and dressings rooms were upgraded and a sprinkler system and fire escape installed. The theatre was run in conjunction with the facilities in the adjoining building as the 'Hastings Municipal Theatre Complex', a multi-purpose venue comprising of theatre and function rooms. In 2002, work began on more changes, with the installation of a bar, upgrading of the stage house and dressing rooms, access to adjacent Municipal Building created on first floor level, and the hand line flying system replaced. In 2004 work began on restoring and upgrading the theatre proper with modernising of the backstage facilities and then the restoration and upgrading of the auditorium. The centrepiece of this was a new painted auditorium ceiling, designed by artists Roz Paterson and Tina Carter, who were part of a team of five painters that undertook the painting. This new work was intended to weave the stylistic strands of the building together in one artistic piece. In addition, a new plaza and foyer addition was constructed on a vacant site to the immediate west of the theatre. The cost of all this work was met by the Council, central government and community fundraising. The work on the theatre was finished in early 2006 and the building was reopened by Prime Minister Helen Clark on 24 March 2006.

Description: The Hastings Municipal Theatre is a major civic building in the Spanish Mission style. This is evidenced in the highly ornamented front elevation to Hastings Street South, which features wide overhanging eaves, tiled roofs, window hoods on brackets of several types, semi-circular openings below the verandah and in the towers, and two central balconies, embellished with balustrading and corbels; there are two windows that are no more than long thin slots, rising through two floors and capped with hoods held on curved brackets. Wall surfaces are otherwise plain plaster. It is a busy façade, with the openings of various shapes arranged symmetrically about the central entrance into the foyer and the balconies above. Two square towers are powerful defining elements - their scale and solidity give the building an impressive and substantial character. The style does not carry through to the interior, where ornate plaster work in various Classically-inspired decorative motifs decorates the auditorium, along with the flowing lines of Art Nouveau and the jazzy geometric shapes of the central 'sunburst' light fitting. The building is thus an intriguing stylistic mix. In a bold decision, the major up-grading of the facilities that was completed in 2006 saw a modern addition made to the south side of the building to provide a large foyer space and plaza; this has enhanced the usefulness of the Municipal Theatre, giving a generous space where the original foyer was somewhat cramped. A new figurative mural was painted on the dome of the auditorium ceiling, an obviously modern work but one respectful of the space that it dominates.