90 YEARS’ CIVIC DUTY

Amanda Saxton and photographer Lawrence Smith investigate a piece of ‘Cinema History’.

The Civic Theatre offered Aucklanders escape when it first opened on December 20, 1929. It was what is known as an Atmospheric Cinema, one of only a handful built outside of the US, says retired architect and heritage consultant George Farrant. Farrant, 77, is largely the reason the Civic has made it to 90.

Atmospherics’ architects were fanciful, mashing ‘‘motifs from any culture they could get their hands on’’, he says.

The Civic went with an Indian theme, though veered into Moorish Andalusia. In the lobby there’s a rock-cut Buddhist temple vibe and a large mural of a Hindu wedding. Elephants abound. Enter the auditorium and you’re surrounded by minarets. The statues, ceilings and textured walls are made of plaster and painted shades of gold. The impression is gilded splendour, but they sound a tad hollow when tapped. Illusion is king at the Civic.

‘‘It conjures up an atmosphere of romantic places far away,’’ Farrant says. ‘‘In the 1920s, with the Great Depression building up, escapism was a valuable thing.’’

When the Depression hit, few had the disposable income to visit a cinema. But World War II brought it a second heyday in the form of American GIs on rest and relaxation from the Pacific. They swarmed to ogle performer Freda Stark, famed for dancing in only feathers and gold body paint and known as ‘‘The Fever of the Fleet’’.

Then came decades of decline.

Plaster started falling from the ceiling and part of the kauri floor was stolen. The building gathered cobwebs and sprang leaks. Demolition seemed its destiny.

Farrant decided the Civic had to be saved: ‘‘It may not be architecture with a capital A, but it’s Cinema History in capitals,’’ he says.

Momentum grew and in 1985 it was granted heritage status. In the late ‘90s, the Civic

‘‘It conjures up an atmosphere of romantic places far away.’’

George Farrant

underwent dramatic restoration, with Farrant at the helm.

To make the venue profitable, a large modern stage was installed. Enough of the original plasterwork could be salvaged to replicate what neglect had destroyed.

Farrant championed a new starry sky for the auditorium, as pigeon poo had eroded most of the original’s wiring, he says.

‘‘We put back five times as many stars and made it a dead accurate April sky over Auckland.’’

Farrant says the Civic was the high point of his career, due to its ‘‘magical quality’’.

‘‘I hope we equipped it to last another 90 years.’’

Today, the massively refurbished Civic’s lobby feels almost exactly as it did 90 years ago thanks to painstaking work by Auckland Council’s heritage preservation team.

The Civic Theatre has been a feature on Queet St since it was built in 1929, when Auckland’s population was about 200,000.

The Civic suffered decades of neglect after World War II, left, but it’s sumptuous staircase is testament to its facelift in the 1990s.