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Press, 27 November 1980, Page 3

The Majestic Theatre, Motueka, which was gutted by fire late on Tuesday evening. A takeaway food bar and a musical instrument shop at the front of the building were also destroyed.

A passing taxi-driver raised the alarm about 11.15 p.m., some time after the theatre had closed after the screening of “Beyond Reasonable Doubt?”

Motueka’s chief fire officer (Mr Jock Primmer) said the taxi-driver had seen smoke coming from a

vent from the takeaway bar. The food bar had been closed about 10 minutes before the alarm was raised. The brigade was on the scene within two minutes, but Mr Primmer said the fire had raced through the building within 10 minutes. Firemen could do nothing but contain the blaze and try to save adjoining buildings. The Motueka brigade was joined by appliances from Mapua, Kaiteriteri Beach, and the Forest Service. Mr Primmer said the

cause of the fire had not been established. Detectives from Nelson had interviewed people in Motueka yesterday morning, but this had been merely a precaution, he said. The Majestic Theatre was owned and run by Mr Morice Lark, who said yesterday that he had only a small amount of insurance cover on the building. Mr Lark said he did not have the money to rebuild the theatre, which, he estimated, would cost about $250,000.

The owner of the music shop, Mr Ray Hewlett, lost a lot of stock in the blaze. Mr M. Hudson, who operated the takeaway bar, lost all of his plant. The theatre is believed to have been built in 1928 and renovated in 1939, when the concrete facade was built. Like many other commercial buildings in the Nelson Province, the theatre was sheathed in corrugated iron. The concrete facade, which was held to be a risk, was demolished yesterday.