Arcadia Theatre

Three Kings Building In 1906, an arcade of shops was built of bricks by Mr. William Quinn from the brickwork’s at Makikihi, using 296,970 bricks of varying designs. The building and its Arcade ran through from High Street to Grigson street with above a dozen small shops in either side. In 1918 it was remodeled, by the then owner Mr. Harry Smith, into an excellent theatre, with a seating capacity of 725, a billiard room and a Tobacconist shop. The theatre opened on 20 March 1920. The first Talkie screened was on Monday 2 June 1930, the film featured Colleen Moore in “Footlight and Fools”. The Arcadia Theatre was severely damaged by the disastrous fire on the morning of June 2, 1955.

The building is currently registered with Historic Places Trust as a category II building and is soon to undergo major restoration.