We get the ‘vibe’ but what about the value?

‘The film museum is dead; long live the Convention Centre.’’ That was the call from those wanting Wellington to ‘move forward’ after the council and Sir Peter Jackson agreed to part ways over the muchvaunted film museum.

However, despite some good arguments being put forward for a new convention centre, the five new Wellington city councillors who did not vote on the original decision want to see a robust business case before they support it.

Can you blame them? At least three Wellington regional councillors risk losing their seats over a Bustastrophe they had nothing to do with creating. If a new convention centre turned out to be a white elephant, hard-working new councillors could rightfully feel hard done by if they were turfed out by voters for something they simply inherited.

So what would be the advantages of a convention centre perhaps costing up to $180 million? Wellington is a very nice city in which to do business. Attend a conference here and, provided you don’t get bowled over crossing Cable St, you can walk along the waterfront, access great cafes, and get to all sorts of other places on foot.

For many, Wellington would be a vastly preferable conference venue to Auckland’s Sky City or the Christchurch CBD. And let’s not forget Wellington is short of good venues. The town hall has been closed since 2013, and the St James is closed until at least 2020 for quake strengthening. The Events Centre is a dog acoustically, though did a great job of hosting weapons manufacturers, and our expensive stadium lacks a roof and struggles to earn revenue. Is this why I now have to pay 50 cents for the once-free tomato sauce on my chips when I watch the rugby there?

So is building a new convention centre a nobrainer? I’m not sure. Though it might attract some visitors, will it attract $180 million worth? Won’t Auckland and Christchurch’s new convention centres lead to stiffer competition? And with climate change and the advance of digital technology, will expensive convention centres become as obsolete as video hire shops and internet cafes? Let’s not forget Wellington has a ‘modern’ overseas terminal that was completed in 1964 at great cost to meet the expected increase in ‘sea-borne passenger traffic’ moments before cheaper air travel rendered it redundant.

Even though no-one has said a convention centre would run at a profit, I might be open to the idea if I saw hard evidence that it would be better for the city than a similar investment in, say, public transport, arts, housing or finding an alternative to the Cable St dodgem course.

And what about Wellington’s existing conference venues? Could a new convention centre swallow them up without increasing the total number of visitors coming to Wellington for conferences?

For me, those supporting the convention centre haven’t come up with a rock-solid case backed up with numbers. I’m reminded of the lawyer in the Aussie comedy The Castle who can’t win his argument with evidence so talks about it being more of a ‘‘vibe’’. It seems that the mayor and others who support a new convention centre have a ‘moving forward’ vibe.

Also worrying is the space underneath the convention centre previously known as the Wellington Film Museum. If built, it would apparently provide exhibition spaces for big, profitable Harry Potter, Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings exhibitions that will pay their way.

Is the council aware that Te Papa also has a big exhibition gallery? Yes, it has had enormous successes, but it has also had flops which could be one of the reasons some staff are currently facing redundancy. If a permanent film museum was found to be financially unsustainable then I suspect it would be very difficult to make an exhibition space right next to free Te Papa pay its way.

If the council wants to see better exhibitions in Wellington wouldn’t an increase in funding for its excellent Wellington Museum be a better idea? And what happens to the big space when it’s not being used for all those apparently profitable blockbuster exhibitions? No wonder these new councillors are nervous.

The previous business case for the Film Museum and Convention Centre read more like a glossy prospectus. Though it looked at the potential market for the film museum, it failed to anticipate the funding impasse that occurred once the parties starting negotiating. And some Wellingtonians worry about the way the construction of the convention centre has not gone to open tender.

A robust business case on the convention centre, carried out by hard-nosed people who have not drunk the ‘moving forward’ juice, is needed. Such a case could convince Wellingtonians that to build a convention castle is a brilliant idea that should go straight to the poolroom. Or it might worry them greatly and, to the mayor and others who are talking it up, they would have the chance to say ‘‘tell him he’s dreamin’’.

With climate change and the advance of digital technology, will expensive convention centres become as obsolete as video hire shops and internet cafes?