Council to consult on fit for purpose performing arts venue in Timaru
Saturday, 10 August 2024
It has been creating plenty of discussion in the community, and now the restoration of Timaru’s Theatre Royal could be back on the table.
It is one of four options the public could be consulted on, as the council looks to provide a fit-for-purpose performing arts venue for the district.
Councillors will discuss a draft document for public consultation on future provision for performing arts, at Tuesday’s Timaru District Council meeting.
The options, as outlined in the meeting’s agenda, are to build a multi-purpose civic centre on the site of the town’s library, upgrade the Theatre Royal, build a new theatre on a council-owned site in the CBD or permanently close the theatre and sell the site for redevelopment.
The new options come after councillors voted to dump the $57.1 million Theatre Royal and Heritage Hub project at an extraordinary meeting in July in favour of exploring a new plan for the facilities.
The dumped project was consulted on twice, with a majority of respondents supporting the upgrade both times.
In Tuesday’s meeting agenda, a report written by group manager corporate and communications Stephen Doran and group manager community services Beth Stewart says if the draft document was approved, consultation would take place during September.
Councillors will also have the option of disagreeing with the draft consultation document and giving further details, or comments, for inclusion.
This would mean the postponement of public consultation to October 2024.
Councillors could also elect to pause the public consultation process until a further resolution to proceed was determined, and it would likely mean a delay to 2025.
Feedback from the council’s Long-Term Plan (LTP) in May showed “a significant proportion of submitters’’ wanted some form of theatre for both local and visiting shows, the draft document said.
Of submitters who made specific reference to a theatre in their feedback, 62% wanted some form of theatre in the district.
The council was not focusing on any particular design at this stage and it wanted guidance on the approach members of the public preferred, the document said.
The four options listed have been scoped out by council officers following the decision of councillors in July to scrap the Theatre Royal and Heritage Hub project.
The first was a new multipurpose civic centre containing a library, museum, theatre and meeting rooms on the site of the town’s library, with an estimated budget of $69.8m which would be unlikely to qualify for government funding, and the rates difference from the LTP in 2028 would be 0.4% lower.
The project would enable the council to replace three ageing facilities with a single modern one and would require the demolition of the Timaru library building, and a temporary library being set up elsewhere in the town.
The Theatre Royal would be permanently closed and both the building and land would be marked for future sale and redevelopment.
This option was the most expensive, the council said, and would bring the council very close to its self-imposed debt cap.
It was estimated it would open early- to mid-2027.
The second option, the update of the Theatre Royal was listed as likely to be the quickest and most affordable at an estimated $30 million.
It could qualify for government funding, and the rates difference from the LTP in 2028 would be 1.8% lower.
It would include internal upgrades, new seating, a new fly system within the existing stagehouse, as well as earthquake strengthening and resolving of some access issues.
Simpler options for upgrading the changing rooms would also be investigated.
While it was a cheaper option upfront, when adding in the repair, refurbishment or replacement of the museum and library, both options would cost similar to, or more than, the multi-purpose facility in the long term.
It was not known if the council could retain some of the $11.6m originally funded by MBIE [the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment] for the original Theatre Royal project.
It was estimated, if the option was to go ahead, the theatre would reopen in late 2026.
Option three, in the draft consultation document, was to build a new theatre on a council-owned site in the CBD, such as the flat area on Barnard St at an estimated cost of $33.8m.
The rates difference from the LTP in 2028 would be 1.8% lower, and would have a smaller number of seats than the Theatre Royal.
It was also not known if it would qualify for MBIE funding and was likely to be the slowest of the four options.
The other option was for no public theatre and the council to sell the Theatre Royal site, and adjacent land, for redevelopment.
No financial figures were provided for this option and it said small and medium-sized theatres and auditoriums in schools would be the only option for performing arts in the district, subject to any future council direction.
It would free up a large piece of CBD land for redevelopment and would offer the largest headroom for the council of any of the four options.