Hokitika’s Regent Theatre is a heritage building in the heart of town and the hearts of the community and has been for over 80 years. The theatre was built in 1935 and opened in early 1936. It was built in a streamline art deco style, one of many New Zealand cinemas built in the heyday of movie going. It ran as a commercial concern until dwindling attendances in the 1970s with competition from TV made it unprofitable. Fortunately the owners sold it in 1979 to what is now Westland Community Centre Incorporated, a society dedicated to owing and running the Regent for the benefit of the Hokitika and district community. The society continued to run films and live events in the Regent but by 2006 was increasingly struggling with costs of maintaining and improving the building in the face of continuing dwindling attendances. The theatre was put on the market for sale and would likely have been converted to retail. But the with threat of losing the theatre the community rallied round the society with a huge refurbishment and re-equipping effort. The theatre has been revitalised with over 100,000 hour of volunteer time, over $2 million in grants, and with generous sponsorship of goods and services. In many ways Hokitika’s Regent Theatre is our Town Hall.
