Firefighters fighting a blaze at the Roxburgh Town Hall on 6 February, 2024. Photo: Otago Daily Times/ Richard Davison
If Curtis Crawford has his way, Roxburgh's movie theatre has a sequel up its sleeve.
A bit of cinema history was destroyed last week when the 258-seat cinema in the South Island town of Roxburgh was razed by fire.
Films have been screening there for almost 130 years, making it the oldest continuously operating movie theatre in the southern hemisphere - and the second oldest in the world.
Locals may have lost their beloved building, but they are determined to preserve their world record status with, not surprisingly, a bit of Kiwi ingenuity.
Curtis is chairperson of the Roxburgh Entertainment Centre and Improvements Committee, and with most of the building gone he told RNZ's Afternoons: "I'd imagine the fire investigator's still got a pretty big job on his hands, because there's not much left."
The fire destroyed the Roxburgh Town Hall and cinema. Photo: Supplied / Central Otago District Council
It was a sad day for locals, he said.
"A lot of people that have worked there stood and watched, and couldn't watch, so had to go home... couldn't watch."
Curtis himself has a long association with the theatre, working there originally as a projectionist.
"I started about 15 years ago on 35mm film with two projectors, and from there, we progressed on and put digital in 2015, so I've been there for wee while."
Curtis Crawford outside the Roxburgh Cinema. Photo: SUPPLIED/Curtis Crawford
The cinema goes back much further.
"We're right back to 1897 when the building was built, and in about 1912 films arrived by stagecoach."
There is only one older in the world, he said.
"Lower State Theatre in Washington, It opened about the same time we did and started showing movies about seven months before we did."
There are no plans to throw in the towel in Roxburgh, however.
"Kiwis don't give up that easily do they?"
The company that supplied their digital projector has offered to loan them another.
"They were in touch on Friday night and said, 'l=Look, we've got this projector here, it's half the size of what you had, but it's the same abilities, can run modern movies. You can stick it in the back of your ute and we could and we could set it up outside.'"
So, outdoor cinema is coming to Roxburgh keeping its record of continuous screenings alive - they plan to show close to the original site.
"So, 29 March, we're going to show something."
But strictly BYO chairs, Curtis warns.
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