A meeting was held by the mayor and councillors in April 1972 to discuss demolition of the Sound Shell and erection of a domed aquarium building.
Councillor David Prebensen, a new councillor in 1971, wanted the general public made aware of these plans, as the discussions were held without media scrutiny and in private.
David wanted to know the public's feelings towards this before voting to demolish the Sound Shell and build the aquarium partly in its place.
In June 1972, the Napier City Council voted in principle to demolish the Sound Shell. David had put forward a resolution at that meeting that further discussions be held with the Thirty Thousand Club (the originators and funders of the Sound Shell in 1935) before the proposal went ahead, as the city would be left without a Sound Shell.
Deputy mayor P D Cox assured councillor Prebensen that the project was only approved in principle and the city would not be left without a Sound Shell at any time.
In another statement to the media, the deputy mayor said the Sound Shell was in "poor condition" and "had never been a permanent building and was not built of permanent material". "Like other buildings", he said, it had a "tough time" from the sea.
The Daily Telegraph was not so sure of the plan to demolish it.
"The Sound Shell is very much part of Napier. Does anyone come here without seeing it?"
The Thirty Thousand Club had always wanted a bigger auditorium on the Marine Parade. The 1935 Sound Shell was a compromise with Napier Borough Council on a bigger building they had wanted. The Thirty Thousand Club was therefore excited at the prospect of replacing the Sound Shell with a 2000 seat amphitheatre in another location.
Members of the public weren't so convinced about the Sound Shell's demolition.
One wrote, "Are memories so short? Apart from it being a focal point on the Parade, both for tourists and residents, it is a memorial, not only to the men and women who worked to restore Napier after the quake, but also, in many eyes, to those who perished then as well."
In August 1972, a change of plan occurred when the Napier City Council announced it was "quite likely" the Sound Shell would not be replaced for some time.
Siting the aquarium on the Sound Shell area would mean poor vehicle access to the building, insufficient parking spaces for visitors to the aquarium, existing walkways would have to be removed, the aquarium building would look cramped on the site, and expansion of the aquarium would not be possible.
The aquarium was built on its present location further south in 1976.
The Sound Shell's fate, however, was far from secure. A committee was formed in 1973 at Napier City Council to consider the future of the Sound Shell and David Prebensen was a member.
The committee's recommendation was to retain the Sound Shell and "take action to upgrade it".
They were told the cost would be prohibitive to do but had found out the cost was affordable.
When the plans were made to do maintenance on the Sound Shell after council agreed to save it, the city engineer wanted to alter the front of it and submitted plans of this. The committee pushed back against this and said there would be no changes to the front of the building.
Napier nearly lost what is considered today as a precious icon.
David Prebensen served as a councillor until 1983 when he was elected mayor of Napier, which he served until 1989, before retiring from local body politics. Prebensen Drive, Napier, is named for him.
For many years David has been voluntary manager and avid supporter of the Faraday Centre, which is Hawke's Bay Museum of Technology.
* Limited, signed copies of Michael Fowler's Historic Hawke's Bay book are available from the Hastings Community Art Centre, Russell St South, Hastings, for $65.
* Michael Fowler is taking Art Deco and 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake tours around the Hastings CBD during Art Deco Festival from February 13 to 16. Book at online iticket or the Art Deco Centre in Tennyson St.
