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Situated in Hobson Street at the top end of Kerikeri's vibrant shopping district is one of the oldest if not the oldest surviving building in Kerikeri's commercial district. The Cathay Cinema started life as a community hall built in the 1920's in what was then a paddock in the middle of local orchards and was used as a meeting place and dance hall for the small local community. The name Cathay was apparently given by locals to the hall as a reminder of some of their ancestors originating from China having fled to New Zealand during the Boxer rebellion earlier in the century.
Converted to a full time cinema for many decades with the addition of a café back in the 80's the Cathay has continued to serve the local community as an entertainment venue.
Mark & Ingrid Galloway purchased both the building and cinema business in 2007 and intends to refurbish the existing cinema and café plus add two new screens on the back of the site to bring this wonderful old building back to life. It is intended to ensure the character of the building along with the beautiful natural timber construction will be a feature of the refurbishment. When reopened as a modern three screen cinema complex, this site will have all the modern elements of 21st Century cinema, space comfort and top rated presentation and at the same time embracing this important part of Kerikeri's history. Construction is scheduled to commence in February 2009 and the new complex should be open for business at the end of November 2009.
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