Editorial: Landmarks central to our heritage

Hawke's Bay Opera House and Municipal Buildings.

Once upon a time, on the intersection of Emerson St and Hastings St in Napier, there were two very grand old buildings which reflected the unique era we now celebrate as the age of Art Deco.

They were ornate and architecturally finely sculpted, as was the dear old Mayfair Theatre building halfway down Emerson and which was a magnet for the likes of myself as a lad on a Saturday morning.

Not that we appreciated the pretty architecture back then.

In fact "back then" few people did.

Like two of those grand banking structures at the intersection, it was simply an old building.

And it came down so a great block, nowadays mostly vacant, could be built.

The two grandly sculpted banks were demolished and modern shapes of the times put up, one a mirrored monster which had all the appeal of something unappealing.

But apart from a small number of people who were saddened to see some history demolished, few would have been bothered. Just old buildings.

But not today. Not since the Art Deco renaissance emerged and "old buildings" became very valuable buildings.

People come a very long way to see them.

And so perhaps it was no real surprise to see the results of a public submissions process in the name of "what shall we do with the Hawke's Bay Opera House in Hastings?"

It is a most remarkable and beautiful building and as Mayor Lawrence Yule noted, the public has sent a loud and clear message that they want to see it stay.

Yes, it is going to cost some decent dosh to ramp it up to between 70 and 75 per cent of the building standards required, but it's gratifying to see this is not just all hinged on costs.

It's hinged on genuine affection for a historic and unique and effectively irreplaceable part of the Hastings city landscape.

To have brought that building down would have been like bringing down the old T&G (the Dome) to the top of Emerson St.

They are landmarks - like many buildings of that imaginative era.

Repair, renovate and sustain them because like a couple of grand old buildings which once stood at a certain intersection in Napier, once they're gone ...