![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/the-newly-crowned-queen-elizabeth-ii-gets-out-of-her-car-at-XHNJC4W2IVFHLLBRNQJOLOSL64.jpg\")
<\/p>\nFor more than seven decades, one of the towers that once helped define Auckland’s Queen Street skyline has been hiding in plain sight. <\/p>\n
Now, for a few weeks, Aucklanders will be able to see it again.<\/p>\n
Look above the scaffolding surrounding the historic St James Theatre and an ornate piece of the city’s past has emerged.<\/p>\n
Gold detailing, deep reds and blues and the remains of the theatre\u2019s original Spanish Mission-style tower are visible from Queen Street for the first time in more than 70 years.<\/p>\n
The original St James was designed by architect Henry Eli White and opened on July 5, 1928.<\/p>\n
But in 1953, as Auckland prepared to welcome a newly crowned Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh, the city \u2014 and the theatre \u2014 were given a modern makeover.<\/p>\n
The tower’s ornate frontage was boxed in behind a new fa\u00e7ade, metal sheeting and neon signage, giving the theatre a more contemporary post-war apperance. <\/p>\n
St James Holdings director Steve Bielby said there was a running joke about the lengths cities would go to before a royal visit.<\/p>\n
“Essentially the joke is that the Queen thinks the world smells of fresh paint. Because before she came anywhere, everywhere got a facelift,” Bielby said. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The newly crowned Queen Elizabeth II gets out of her car at the St James Theatre. (Source: TVNZ)<\/p>\n
Queen Elizabeth attended performances at the St James three times during her reign, while other members of the Royal Family also visited over the decades.<\/p>\n
Archival footage from her 1953 visit captured the excitement surrounding her arrival.<\/p>\n
“It’s an occasion which brings to Auckland a touch of London’s enchantment,” the newsreel narrator declared as the Queen arrived for a Royal Command cinema performance.<\/p>\n
While fashions changed again over the following decades, the old St James remained hidden behind its new frontage. <\/p>\n
Its survival only became clear when demolition work began years later, with the layers peeled further back this week.<\/p>\n
“They cut through the first fa\u00e7ade and were like, ‘Oh, there’s just some tin back here’,” Bielby recalled.<\/p>\n
“They cut through that and we sort of popped our heads through.”<\/p>\n
What they eventually uncovered was more substantial than expected, with much of the original ornate frontage still intact. <\/p>\n
“One of the really cool things about this is that it was covered in the ’50s and essentially became a time capsule,” Bielby said. <\/p>\n
“It’s been really well preserved.”<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/the-st-james-tower-in-1953-M3KZUEONSFATRHZDOJYONQDIUQ.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
The St James tower in 1953. (Source: Supplied)<\/p>\n
The St James tower was once one of three distinctive towers in this part of central Auckland. <\/p>\n
The others, on the Civic Theatre and Auckland Town Hall, had remained familiar features of the city\u2019s skyline while the St James disappeared behind its newer frontage.<\/p>\n
Now, with scaffolding temporarily removed while work is carried out on the building’s Queen St frontage, all three can effectively be seen again.<\/p>\n
The tower will remain visible from Queen St until September 1. <\/p>\n
After years of delays, damage and debate, construction has started at Auckland\u2019s historic theatre. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n
When will the St James be rebuilt?<\/p>\n
Behind the fa\u00e7ade, a much bigger restoration remained underway.<\/p>\n