At the start we used the building as a photographic studio. Pete Madsen painted three back drops for our photographic studio. Two of them were replicas of Tyree back drops and the third one was a backdrop for our Halloween events.

We had 8mm and 16mm projectors and no building to show movies. We transformed the photographic studio into a movie theater. At the start visitors had to sit on a carpet and then on hessian covered seating. End of October 2020 we were lucky to buy 12 ex-seats from Theater Royal in Nelson.

Our research shows that in Nelson a move theater was. It was called Hayward’s pictures (Empire Theater).

Researching further shows that Henry John Hayward was a major player in early movie screening. Our movie theater is dedicated to him. Here a short biography:

Hayward’s Pictures

Founded in July 1910 to run an expanding business of film distribution and exhibition. By late 1912 it controlled 33 picture/movie theaters and had an established film-hiring department.

John Gosney (Nelson lanscape artist 14.7.1950-23.2.2015) made this building for himself and when he got diagnosed with a terminal illness he sold it to us. It was made with wood from Ngawhatu hospital.

St Mary’s Orphanage operated from 1886-1919. Ngawhatu Psychiatric Hospital operated from 1922 to 2000.