Another seismic blow for Wellington

Friday, 18 August 2023

The Michael Fowler Centre is one of two major venues to be hit with earthquake-prone stickers - but people can enter it still - for now.

Wellingtonians have been assured two major arts venues are safe to use after they joined the list of earthquake-prone buildings, which is proving an expensive and ongoing problem for the city.

Wellington City Council announced on Thursday the Michael Fowler Centre and the Opera House were both earthquake-prone, with seismic safety ratings falling below 34% of the New Building Standard.

The council would not release the safety assessments for the buildings, but chief infrastructure officer Siobhan Procter said there was nothing in the advice to stop the venues operating as normal.

Both will remain open for business for now but display earthquake-prone notices. The council has been given 7½ years to strengthen the buildings.

The Opera House on Courtenay Place hosts a wide range of entertainment and events for Wellington City but has also been stickered.

Mayor Tory Whanau asked staff to work on a plan for the buildings as a priority. “I want to reassure Wellingtonians that they’re still safe and this won’t disrupt our thriving arts scene,” she said.

Councillor Iona Pannett said the Opera House, a heritage building constructed in 1914, had been known to be an earthquake risk for a “long time”. In 2012 the venue was identified as at-risk, but upgrades by the council brought it back to a safer seismic rating over Christmas of 2016.

Now it has again fallen below the 34% threshold of the National Building Standards, meaning upgrade work is compulsory. The Post understands that some of the structural issues relate to the proscenium arch which frames the stage.

Tory Whanau celebrated the opening of Wicked the musical at the St James Theatre this week, but there’s anxiety about the future for the city’s arts scene with two more venues quake-stickered.

Pannett supported keeping the venues open and said “we can’t shut down the city” by emptying hundreds of quake-prone buildings.

“We knew this was coming,” said councillor Nicola Young. “I’m very happy to attend events at these venues in the meantime.”

The notices add to the seismic issues facing the council, which include a lengthy upgrade of the Town Hall that has blown out to $182.4 million and the $188m upgrade of Wellington Central Library.

Quake-prone stickers were visible on both buildings on Thursday.

Warrick Dent from WellingtonNZ, the regional economic development organisation which operates both venues, said a decision would have to be made down the road on the future of the buildings.

Michael Fowler and Opera House staff, hirers, and other tenants had been told the news and so far there had been no negative reactions, Dent said. The public and audiences should feel “at ease” using the venues as there was no reason they had to shut immediately.

The council would need to discuss the impact on the city’s events sector and wider economy regarding any temporary or permanent venue closures. “Let’s cross that bridge when we come to it,” Young said.

Former mayor and Wellington Opera chairperson Kerry Prendergast says the bigger question will be the cost on ratepayers for strengthening work over the coming years.

The news comes as a blow to Wellington’s tightly knit arts industry, which has over the past year been celebrating the reopening of the St James Theatre after multiple years of closure due to its own seismic problems. That project came at a price tag of $42m.

The Wellington Town Hall ‒ another venue shuttered due to quake concerns ‒ has been closed since 2013 and has a tentative reopening date of early 2025.

Major groups which regularly use the Michael Fowler Centre and Opera House include the NZ Symphony Orchestra, NZ Opera and Wellington Opera, but both venues are also used for a wide range of other events including conferences, cultural festivals and touring concerts.

Sally de Normanville Guy from NZ Opera said it would take time to digest the information about the “iconic Wellington venues”. NZ Opera would follow safety advice to determine whether the new status would affect upcoming seasons.

Wellington Opera chairperson and lead fundraiser for the new national music school, Kerry Prendergast, said while there was no imminent threat, bigger questions remained around costs to remediate both venues which would be passed onto ratepayers over the coming years as the council juggled other expensive projects.

With the St James Theatre already open and Town Hall due to open, she hoped disturbance to the arts would be minimal.

Rehearsals and performances for the NZ Symphony Orchestra would continue as planned, chief executive Peter Biggs said. “Given the assurance by the city council, we feel comfortable to keep using the building,” he said.

The Michael Fowler Centre was its main performance venue in Wellington until the Town Hall opened but he was assured one or the other would always be made available as their major performing concert venue, Biggs said.

Victoria University of Wellington and Massey University both hold regular graduation ceremonies at the Michael Fowler Centre.

Victoria had been assured the building was safe and would therefore continue to use it for ceremonies, said its acting chief operating officer Simon Johnson. Should that change, it would consider an alternative location, he added.

Additional reporting: Gianina Schwanecke and Hanna McCallum