Timaru’s Theatre Royal deemed earthquake-prone building
Friday, 9 August 2024
It’s been the talk of the town since the council dumped a plan to upgrade it, and now it has been confirmed Timaru’s Theatre Royal is officially earthquake-prone.
Timaru District Council chief executive Nigel Trainor confirmed the status of the grand old building, after councillors voted to scrap a $57 million plan to upgrade it and create a neighbouring heritage facility last month.
Trainor said the theatre had been closed due to safety concerns relating to the fly system in 2019, and in 2018 had an assessment which put it at 40% of the New Building Standard (NBS) rating system.
However, he said it had since been reassessed and the latest report indicated it was sitting at 33% NBS — meaning it would be classified as earthquake-prone.
The magic number for that classification is 34% or less.
In June, the Government ordered a review of the rating system, with it labelled a blunt instrument that was not a good measure of risk to life.
The review would consider whether the system was the best way to measure and assess seismic risk.
Despite that, the earthquake-prone classification does add another element which could have an impact on the future of the building.
Two options offered up by Trainor during the meeting on July 16, which sealed the fate of the project to upgrade it, were to sell or demolish the heritage listed building.
However, he said the council would make no decision on that, until it had agreed on a way forward for Plan B — which councillors agreed to explore at the meeting.
According to the council’s project documents for the Theatre Royal and Heritage Facility, the Theatre Royal was reconverted into a theatre in 1877 by Maurice Duval.
The present building was opened in 1912, replacing earlier buildings on the site.
Over the years, the council has carried out multiple alterations and upgrades of the building. In 1962/63 it made alterations and carried out earthquake mitigation work. In 1988it was refurbished and seismically strengthened. It was upgraded again in 1992/93, with the façade and entry foyer demolished and replaced with a new structure designed by Barrie Bracefield Consultancy.
The building has a Category B historic listing under the District Plan, and is listed as a Category 2 historic place with Heritage New Zealand.
The neighbouring Criterion Hotel building has a Category A historic heritage place classification under the Timaru Draft District Plan, meaning it is deemed to be of “highly significant heritage value”.
“Heritage New Zealand was very enthusiastic about this project,” she said.
“The Theatre Royal was designed as a place of gathering and this latest plan to upgrade it was something we were excited about.”
As well as throwing the future of the Theatre Royal “into doubt’’, she said the project would have been a great way to revitalise the south end of Stafford St.
Huge investment in southern end of town
Two rounds of consultation, detailed designs, demolition of buildings, removal of furnishings and site preparations have all contributed to the total amount spent on the dumped project.
The council had also made several property purchases over an extended period to enable it.
Those include the purchase of the theatre itself in 1961, the former Olympia Hall (Army Hall) for $400,000 in 2010, and prior to that it had already purchased 126 and 128 Stafford St.
In 2018 the council purchased the former Criterion Hotel (132 Stafford St) for $385,000.
In 2021 it bought 134-138 Stafford St for $440,000 — it housed the popular Royal Garden Chinese Restaurant.
Holdings company interests
The council is not the only entity which has been investing in, and working to revitalise the area.
Its holdings company, Timaru District Holdings Limited (TDHL), also purchased a number of properties opposite the Theatre Royal, as the plan to redevelop it gathered steam.
TDHL bought the properties from 101-123 Stafford St for $1.7million in September, 2018.
At the time, then Timaru mayor and TDHL chairperson, Damon Odey, said the purchases were a separate commercial endeavour to the council’s purchases across the street. TDHL told the community it hoped the sites would be “on sold to a developer as a single 3700 square metre site”.
Describing that move as “progressive”, Odey said TDHL had decided to make “stuff happen” at the south end of Stafford St in the wake of fears big box retail would draw people out of the CBD.
The previous year, TDHL purchased the former showgrounds site to prevent such a development there.
However, that proved to be short-lived and just two-and-a-half years later, in November 2019, it was announced the land had been sold to Auckland-based developer Tony Gapes for the Showgrounds retail development.
Since TDHL’s buy up in Stafford St, a number of ideas and plans have been announced for the area — a hotel, a temporary greenspace, a car park, the demolition of more than half of them (including the Majestic Theatre) and renovations for the former Union Bank of Australia building.
The latter, made of Timaru bluestone, was completed in 1877 and is proposed to be Category B listed as part of the District Plan.
TDHL has continually called for expressions of interest from developers interested in purchasing the properties.
But any developer’s plans for the properties had, until recently, been assessed against the council’s own (now dumped) plans for the area — it having identified key features and outcomes for the planned ‘precinct’.
Responding to questions, following the council’s decision to dump its plans, TDHL general manager Fraser Munro said that would be “factored into” the future plans of the holdings company.
Asked how the council decision may impact TDHL’s own plans in the area, what plans they had for the properties now, whether they had any interest in or offers for the properties, whether demolition was still a possibility and if there were any plans to get that under way, Munro responded: “TDHL will be working through options for these sites in line with previous updates. As always, we are open to offers.
“Council’s recent decision will be factored into our thinking.”