Is it wise to be conventional?
To convene or not to convene, that is the question. The $180 million question, to be a bit more precise.
The well-trod Shakespeare line – somewhat repurposed – is deliberate. The playwright’s works have made us either smile or experience tragedy, and this feels prescient as Wellington and its city council face a huge question: Do we push on with the convention centre, or redirect the money towards something else more worthwhile for the city and region?
The question is being asked by readers, councillors and former public servants: Do we really want or need a convention centre?
The very concept has been questioned since it was first mooted – but that is now getting louder, given predictions that Covid19 will put a massive full stop behind the convention business, or at least a lengthy semicolon.
Wellington mayor Andy Foster has made it clear that backtracking on construction work is not an option. The council has spent too much on that to date and stands to lose even more should it breach its contracts.
Yesterday, he said construction work would resume at the centre next Tuesday.
Already about $60m has been pumped into design, land purchase, earthworks, and building materials, and the council would be liable for tens of millions of dollars in damages should it pull the pin.
But Foster has left open the possibility of repurposing the facility should the convention market remain moribund when the building opens in three years.
He says that is unlikely but such a rethink would require interior fitout changes and, presumably, would need to be thought through well before the building opens.
Last week, the issue was thrown back into the spotlight when the council listed the convention centre as one of a number of shovel-ready projects that could help reboot Wellington’s economy after the lockdown.
Many disagreed with forging on, with some calling for the building to be used for something else, such as a new library.
Foster’s admission adds further uncertainty to a project that has already been scaled back once. The initial plan was for the centre to open alongside a Sir Peter Jackson movie museum, but that fell over following a serious of disagreements between the film-maker and the council.
Foster still expects the convention market to bounce back domestically by 2023 and argues the facility was never meant for large numbers of international visitors.
But with the city facing competition from Auckland and Christchurch, now may be the time to consider other options more seriously.