Reporter Doug Laing speaks to Fire and Emergency New Zealand assistant commander Warrick Le Quesne, of Napier about the fire that destroyed an unoccupied Napier Marine Parade landmark. Video/Warren Buckland
The charred remains of a former Napier backpackers will remain an eyesore for summer visitors as it remains untouched after it was razed by fire .
The historic building on Marine Parade, once known as Kiwi Keith’s Quality Backpackers Lodge, was destroyed by a blaze href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/hawkes-bay-today/news/early-morning-fire-destroys-vacant-marine-parade-lodge/RWHU5RLGTFAE3O2GOB6W7CZV4A/" target="_blank">four months ago.
Police treated the fire as suspicious but, with insufficient evidence, have not laid any charges.
The property on Napier's Marine Parade as it looks four months after the former backpackers caught fire. Photo / Warren Buckland
There has been no work on clearing the site since fencing went up around the property between Vautier Street and iconic architectural feature the Six Sisters after the fire just a few hundred metres from the CBD on the morning of August 15.
There is sill a mass of iron, burned timber and ashes left behind when the last embers died, with security fencing sealing off more than 40m of Marine Parade footpath and cones closing five parking spaces as a temporary walkway.
The site is also fenced at the rear, facing the Hastings Street sites of Number One Shoes (formerly Rebel Sport) and Lighting Direct, opposite the Napier Courthouse.
A Napier City Council spokesperson said the owners are “working through a process to get the clean-up underway and NCC is encouraging them to get it completed as soon as possible”.
Comment is being sought from the owners, who have had the property on the market since earlier this year.
The former backpackers accommodation on Napier's Marine Parade on fire in the early morning back in August. Photo / Warren Buckland
At the time of the fire it had been vacant and awaiting site redevelopment for at least four years. The century-old, wooden single-storey building had been known more long-term as the Waterfront Backpackers Lodge.
While no longer occupied it had been used by squatters, with at least two smaller other fires reported in recent years.
Police treated the fire in Napier as suspicious but, with insufficient evidence, have not laid any charges. Photo / Warren Buckland
It was bought by Nautilus Family Trust Ltd which in 2019 proposed a hotel development, but it was put on-hold because of the Covid-19 downturn.
A refurbishment of the existing buildings and conversion to motel accommodation was then proposed, but ultimately it was put on the market just weeks before the fire, with the consents for the redevelopment in place.
Doug Laing is a senior reporter based in Napier with Hawke’s Bay Today, and has 50 years of journalism experience in news gathering, including breaking news, sports, local events, issues, and personalities.
