Napier Soldiers' Club (Former)

39 Marine Parade and 6 Seaview Terrace, NAPIER

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The Napier Soldiers' Club Committee, which was made up of prominent local individuals including Mayor Vigor Brown, was responsible for the establishment of Napier's first and probably New Zealand's first purpose built soldiers' club in December 1916. In February 1916 the Committee purchased an allotment of land facing Marine Parade for the site of the new clubhouse. By April 1916 the foundation stone for the new club was laid as part of massive ANZAC Day celebrations in Napier. The building, designed by Architect Louis Hay who provided his services for free, was completed by December 1916. Hay's two storey structure of reinforced concrete, which was praised as 'an original and altogether pleasing style of architecture' at the time, is now seen to exemplify the influence of Frank Lloyd Wright and other architects of the Prairie school on his work. It is known from the facilities described in The Hawkes Bay Herald as the building neared completion, that the returned soldiers who visited the Napier club after it opened would have been able to use the building to read, play cards or billiards, and have lunch or a drink. Soldiers' clubs and the facilities they provided to returned soldiers' may have been, as in this case, a marker of a community's respect and gratitude but from the perspective of the Returned Soldiers Association (RSA) they also played an important role in assisting returned men in their transition from military to civilian life. At the time of the opening of the building the Napier Soldiers' Club Committee and the Napier Returned Soldiers' Association were two distinct organisations. The Committee stemmed out of the National Reserve, a group that functioned throughout New Zealand to aid the war effort, while the Association was made up of returned men. Each placed newspaper advertisements inviting people to the opening ceremony and the first President of the Napier RSA, Colonel W Tweedie, was among the 'local men' who spoke on the day. However, despite their combined celebrations on the opening of the building it is known that there were some difficulties between the Napier Soldiers' Club Committee and the Napier Returned Soldiers' Association which resulted in the Association 'holding aloof altogether from the club' for a period. The Committee and the Association ‘amicably settled' their differences in January 1920 and began working under a joint secretary, Mr W H Barton. In the late 1920s, a period during which the Returned Services Association experienced a lull in membership, those responsible for the Club reportedly sold the building to hotelier, Henry Bodley, ‘because of lack of support'. Though they have had a number of clubrooms over the years a newspaper article from 2001 suggests that the Napier RSA still values the former Napier Soldiers' Club in Marine Parade suggesting that it was the first club of its type in New Zealand. Following its use as a soldiers' club the building was extended in approximately 1930, to designs by the original architect, and used as a private hotel. Like many reinforced concrete buildings it suffered little damage in the 1931 Hawkes Bay earthquake. In recent years the building has been occupied by a series of restaurants and is currently owned by Byron and the late Angel Duncan. The only major structural alteration to the building since the addition to Louis Hay's design in 1930 is the addition of a deck to the front left side in 2001. The building is representative of the early clubrooms that were erected or fitted up for returned soldiers during following both World Wars and that today form a New Zealand institution. It is of special historical significance as probably the first purpose built soldiers' club in New Zealand. The building is closely associated with World War One, an event which would have an intense impact on New Zealand. Though it was not expressly named as a memorial to those who took part in the war the function the building performed, the laying of the foundation stone on ANZAC Day and the contribution of the community to its erection, casts it in this light. The Soldiers' Club is an excellent example of the influence of Frank Lloyd Wright and other architects of the Prairie school on the work of architect Louis Hay. Hay's enthusiasm for Wright can be seen in the design of the long low roof and his use of horizontal detailing. The design was unusual at the time with other architects not looking to the work of Wright until the mid 1930s and adopting some of these practices after World War Two. Though Hay is well known for his work following the 1931 Hawkes Bay earthquake his earlier buildings, such as the Soldiers' Club, contributed to the establishment of a strong tradition of innovative architecture in Napier in the 1920s, a tradition that is credited as ‘setting the pattern' for post earthquake reconstruction.

Napier Soldiers' Club (Former), 39 Marine Parade, Napier. CC BY-NC 3.0 Image courtesy of knowledgebank.org.nz | Christina McRae | 01/11/2020 | Hawkes Bay Digital Archive Trust
Napier Soldiers' Club (Former), 39 Marine Parade, Napier. CC BY-NC 3.0 Image courtesy of knowledgebank.org.nz | Christina McRae | 01/11/2020 | Hawkes Bay Digital Archive Trust
Napier Soldiers' Club (Former), 39 Marine Parade, Napier. Detail of the Foundation Stone from front elevation | Alison Dangerfield | 01/08/2007 | Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga

Location

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List Entry Information

Overview

Detailed List Entry

Status

Listed

List Entry Status

Historic Place Category 1

Access

Private/No Public Access

List Number

9967

Date Entered

6th June 2009

Date of Effect

6th June 2009

City/District Council

Napier City

Region

Hawke's Bay Region

Extent of List Entry

Extent includes the land described in RT HB52/101, Hawkes Bay Land District and the building known as the Napier Soldiers' Club (Former) thereon, and its fittings and fixtures. (Refer to map in Appendix 1 of the registration report for further information).

Legal description

Pt Lot 4 Deed 427, Pt Lot 1 Deed 40 (RT HB52/101), Hawkes Bay Land District.

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