When the dust (literally) had settled about two weeks after the earthquake, when most people had returned to Napier, thoughts turned to the rebuild of the CBD. The first task was removal of the debris, most of which ended up as infill on the Marine Parade foreshore.
Much discussion was held about the best way to rebuild the CBD, but in the first instance a temporary shopping block made of tin and wood (hence the nickname tin-town) was erected in Memorial and Clive Squares.
Many national experts were consulted during February and March 1931 to review building construction after the huge quake, such as surveyors, architects and builders.
What resulted was the beginnings of a building code requiring structures to withstand earthquake shocks.
Architects in Hastings and Napier decided to group together after the quake, and in Napier the practices of Natusch & Sons, Finch & Westerholm, E A Williams and J A Louis Hay became known as the Napier Associated Architects.
They shared one office, but worked independently of each other and brought a sense of unity in rebuilding Napier.
Not all the buildings were designed by the Napier Associated Architects, but most were. Buildings owned by national organisations, such as banks, were designed by their own architects.
While the new buildings of Napier (and Hastings) had to be constructed of reinforced concrete, the style of building was suggested to be a uniform one, that of Spanish Mission.
Napier Rotarian Mr F W Peters suggested that the example of Santa Barbara, in the US state of California, should be followed. It had been rebuilt in Spanish Mission style after its 1925 earthquake.
"Napier," Mr Peters argued, "could be made an ideal city and be one of the most beautiful spots in the Southern Hemisphere".
This idea, while gaining some support, didn't eventuate due to the cost of Spanish Mission buildings (more expensive than Art Deco in general) and a lack of regulation to impose a uniform style on building owners.
What resulted in Napier was a mix of styles, with Art Deco being the predominant, along with Spanish Mission, Stripped Classical and Prairie, which was favoured by architect J A Louis Hay.
The main reason why Art Deco was chosen was because it was fashionable and Napier wanted to be modern.
With decorations made of moulded shapes, and low relief decoration in concrete, the buildings were safe, unlike the heavy overhanging ornamentations that had crashed down, killing many, during the 1931 earthquake.
The buildings were also cheap, but the decoration could be as elaborate or as fancy as the building owner desired (or could afford).
The first building to go up in the Napier CBD after the quake was the Market Reserve building, which had been planned before the big jolt.
The owner, the Napier Borough Council, was keen to get the rebuilding programme going as fast as possible to silence those who said Napier could not be rebuilt.
Rene Natusch, the architect, changed the specification from a welded steel frame to a riveted one, although riveting was becoming old-fashioned, so that the builders would make plenty of noise and send out signals of progress to Napier.
Napier was largely rebuilt by January 1933, when the town held a New Napier Carnival to celebrate the achievement.
* Michael Fowler has an Art Deco guided walking tour leaving from the Hastings i-SITE todayat 11am as part of the Tremains Art Deco Festival. The cost is $20 and takes about 1 hour, 10 minutes. Book at the Hastings i-SITE.
* Michael Fowler's books, A Collage of History: Hastings, Havelock North and Napier and From Disaster to Recovery: The Hastings CBD 1931-35, are available at Whitcoulls, Hastings and Napier; Napier I-site; Hastings i-SITE; Art Deco Trust Napier; Beattie and Forbes, Napier; Plaza books, Hastings; Wardini Havelock North and Napier; Hastings, Taradale and Napier Paper Plus and Poppies Havelock North.
* Michael Fowler (mfhistory@gmail.com) is Art Deco Trust heritage officer.
