Wellington Opera House scorned

Council-owned venues cop pounding in report and sale or redevelopment urged

Wellington’s Opera House should be redeveloped or sold, says a report into council-owned assets in the capital. Some of the city’s key venues were only being used at half their capacity and were not fit for purpose.

One unnamed stakeholder quoted in the report called the TSB Arena “one of NZ’s worst big rooms” and another said Shed 6 was a “big box”.

But the quiet death of a proposal to build a bright, shiny 12,000-seat indoor arena could free up tens of millions of dollars needed to upgrade Wellington’s existing venues.

Wellington NZ, the region’s economic development agency, got specialist research company Gemba to provide the recent report.

It wanted to know if the venues it managed, specifically the Opera House, Michael Fowler Centre, TSB Arena and Shed 6, were up to scratch for the coming decades.

The answer was overwhelmingly “no”, with venues under-invested in technology and infrastructure.

Also, content was found to be skewed towards the over-55s, with an untapped potential to cater for a younger and increasingly diverse audience through live music, comedy, theatre, and cultural festivals.

Supply gaps were identified in performing-arts venues with a capacity between 500 to 1000 people and in concert or indoor events venues with a capacity of 6000-plus.

Wellington City councillors were briefed yesterday on the report.

The report was particularly scathing of Shed 6 and the Opera House and recommended they be repurposed, redeveloped or sold.

Stakeholder feedback said the Opera House had a poor line of sight from many areas of seating as well as being dark and difficult to upgrade.

Shed 6 didn’t even have facilities to operate as an independent venue.

Wellington NZ events and experiences general manager Warrick Dent said he didn’t think there was an appetite to sell the Opera House. Instead, the organisation was keen to have modular seating that could be easily taken out or retracted to accommodate gigs for younger audiences.

“If you’re going to a contemporary music gig, most people want to get up and enjoy themselves, you don’t want to sit.”

That said, the dress circle and gallery could still be used for seated tickets.

Another idea was to section parts of the space off to create a more intimate mid-size theatre, Dent said.

“We want to make sure the building gets saved, it’s a beloved building in Wellington . . . and we believe, with some work on it, it can be a performance space that survives another 50 to 100 years.”

Shed 6 was built as temporary extra space when the Town Hall closed due to seismic concerns, but it looks like its days as a performance venue are over.

Wellington NZ has recommended it gets incorporated into the neighbouring TSB Arena as extra space for the likes of changing rooms.