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An incomplete record of the building of the Civic Theatre in Queen Street, Auckland.
1'41" 'For four long years the clouds had rolled over a heart of a city that lay useless and bare'. Pan across site covered in grass, cars, rubbish .
2'09" 'For the most central block of a city no better use had been found than this'. C.U. shots of rubbish, horse & carts, vehicles.
2'50" 'At last the city fathers agreed to make a move'. M.S. Sign advertising sites for sale.
3'00" 'Many months saw little progress'. Pan across site, covered with cars.
3'33" 'The Town Hall and St James Theatre frown on this waste'. Tilt shot up signpost Fergusson St, Town Hall clock tower.
3'57" 'Even the pigeons looked on with disdain'. From top of building with pigeons in foreground.
4'18" 'Then the initiative bred of commercial activity steps in'. View up Queen St to Town Hall. Pan across site & sign for Civic Theatre. Truck with 'Winstone' on it.
5'44" 'In a short 8 hours man changes a landscape'. Crane & digger working. W.S. digger working. Shot from above of machinery working, trucks leaving site.
6'38" 'Yet man still needs his dumb friends'. L.S. Horses working.
6'50" 'And his machines cannot do without the human element'. M.S. Man fixing machinery. 'Jones & Medley contractors' on digger. W.S. Site, machinery.
7'41" 'And during the succeeding weeks work progresses apace'. Reel B-C: Various shots of excavation, construction, framing, bricks , concrete mixing, pouring concrete. Workmen eating lunch ( 24') horse with nose bag. Construction of upper floors, tower, view from roof top
(27') C.U. plasterers working on snakes. C.U. Clock.
27'21". End.