The outbreak of World War II put this on hold, as well as another project - a war memorial community centre planned for the Marine Parade. After the war had finished both projects were dropped in 1947 in favour of constructing a War Memorial Hall. The War Memorial Hall would be "dedicated to the memory of more than 300 members of the Napier Community who gave their lives in World War II". The opening of the Napier War Memorial Hall took place on July 14, 1957. The next major renovations of the Napier War Memorial Hall were completed in 2017 with the name changed to Napier Conference Centre.

Source: New Zealand Herald June 24, 2017 00:56 UTC