A total of eight crews of firefighters combated the blaze in the middle of the central Otago town, which destroyed the Roxburgh Town Hall, including its 128-year-old cinema. Photo: Supplied / Central Otago District Council
- A large fire has gutted the Roxburgh Town Hall and Entertainment Centre, including its 128-year-old cinema
- A total of eight Fire and Emergency crews fought the blaze for several hours on Thursday
- The destructive fire comes only a month after the building "narrowly" avoided major damage during a fire in January
A member of a committee that ran Roxburgh's historic cinema says the community is "devastated" after a Waitangi Day fire gutted the building.
A total of eight crews of firefighters responded to the blaze in the middle of the central Otago town, which destroyed the Roxburgh Town Hall, including its 128-year-old cinema.
The fire, which has now been extinguished, broke out shortly before midday forcing neighbouring properties to evacuate.
A crew remained at the scene overnight with a fire investigator to check for a possible cause on Friday.
The facility on Scotland Street included the town hall, supper room and 258-seat auditorium and boutique cinema.
The movie theatre was first built in 1897 and had previously been part of a Guinness World Records claim of "longest continuously running movie theatre in the world".
Roxburgh Entertainment Centre Committee member Norman Dalley said the Scotland Street building was a major cornerstone for the town.
"It's huge...it's a hub," he said.
The Roxburgh Cinema, formerly the Roxburgh Atheneum, first opened on 11 December 1897, but was shifted and redeveloped as part of the town hall in 1930.
Photo: Roxburgh Centre
"We're quite proud of the fact that it's the longest continuously operating movie theatre in the Southern Hemisphere, perhaps the world.
"There's plenty of claims around that.
"Some people have been involved as volunteers (at the cinema) for the last 50 years."
Dalley, who is also the chair of the Teviot Valley Community Board, joined a crowd of others who watched on in horror as flames engulfed the old building,
"It was at the forefront of everybody's day [yesterday]," he said.
"The total devastation on people's faces was quite evident.
"The way the fire took hold and got bigger, it was hard to watch."
Local media reported that many onlookers became emotional from what they saw.
The town hall had received more than $100,000 of upgrades last year, including a new movie theatre sound system and screen.
This was achieved through fund-raising and community support, Dalley said.
"[The town hall] well used for funerals, big functions, all sorts of things," he said.
"We also screened movies every week.
"It's just so devastating, a lot of history has gone."
As for a rebuild, the building was too important to the Roxburgh community for it not happen, Dalley said.
"We are a very resilient community and I'm sure that we'll be , in a time to come, showing movies on our spot again," he said.
"We'll recover from it but it's going to take time."
'Dramatic' day for residents
Roxburgh community leader Sally Feinerman said the building has been "completely gutted".
"We've got just the front facade and two walls standing - the rest is history."
She told Morning Report firefighters had done a fantastic job because the building was located in between others in the town.
"It was pretty dramatic."
It was devastating for the committee that ran the theatre. Recently, they had added a new sound system and projection screen and upgraded the firewall.
The building had been a feature of most people's lives, not only for its cinema but it was also the biggest meeting place in Roxburgh.
Feinerman said it was still unknown whether the remaining parts of the building could be saved in any rebuild.
Meanwhile, a notice urging people to conserve water to help firefighters has been lifted.
The notice was put in place yesterday to make sure firefighters had as much water as possible available.
Crews remained at the scene overnight, and a fire investigator is heading there today to determine was caused the fire.
The destructive fire also comes a month after the council-owned building "narrowly" avoided serious damage during a fire on 3 January.
During the aftermath, Fire and Emergency (FENZ) fire investigator Matt Jones said the building would have copped significantly worse damage if it was not for a recently installed fire alarm system.
In a post on social media, the council confirmed the building had been destroyed.
"We know this was a huge shock to everyone, thank you so much for your understanding and support throughout the day."
Engineers were also carrying out a safety assessment of the facade in a hope that it could be retained.
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