Work has started on the renovation of Napier’s former War Memorial Women’s Rest rooms which, after being out of action for more than a decade, will become home of the Art Deco Trust.
But trust general manager and heritage manager Jeremy Smith is not yet committing to a timeline for when the trust will begin operating from the buildings in northern Clive Square, which opened on Anzac Day in 1926.
The buildings, fronting Tennyson St and now known as Memorial Square, also include the new Cenotaph, all commemorating those who served and perished in the 1914-1918 war.
Partly damaged in the 1931 Hawke’s Bay Earthquake, it was still able to be used as a centrepiece of temporary business centre Tin Town, was fully restored by the end of 1934, and, having become a base for community and social services and varying clubs, was substantially renovated in 1993 to mark the Women’s Suffrage centenary.