Too pricey? Court Theatre report leaked

The Court is a proven cultural asset, it leads in its field and is part of the identity of the city. Philip Aldridge Court Theatre CEO ‘‘The report has not been discussed by the council at this stage, but one of the council’s main priorities has always been to activate the central city and we think the Court Theatre is a key part of this.’’ Council customer and community general manager Mary Richardson

A new Court Theatre in central Christchurch would be too expensive and should be dropped from the performing arts precinct, a leaked report says.

The report, commissioned by the Christchurch City Council and completed in March, revealed cost, timing and funding options for the precinct for the first time.

It recommended that keeping the Court Theatre in its post-earthquake Addington home and building a $17 million multipurpose theatre on the precinct site was the best value for money.

But council and Court Theatre bosses have said they still want a new Court to help revitalise the city centre.

Precinct plans included a new home for the Court and a second multipurpose performance venue for a range of arts groups on a site bound by Armagh, New Regent, Gloucester and Colombo streets. Council was developing the project with $30m in funding, while the Government was buying the land.

Accountancy firm PwC was commissioned to establish which precinct options represented the best ‘‘value for money’’. The options included:

Only a new Court Theatre for $45m, opening in 2021.

Only a multipurpose theatre for $15m to $17m, opening in 2019.

A new court and car park, and a multipurpose theatre for $75.3m to $77.3m. The car park would open in 2019, the Court by 2021 and the multipurpose theatre by 2031. The court would get all of the $30m in council funding and raise $15m by January 2018. It would take time to raise all the money for the multipurpose theatre. Council would pay an extra $7m towards the car park.

A car park and a multipurpose theatre by 2019 and a new Court by 2026. The Court would get $10m of the $30m in council money as ‘‘seed funding’’ and the remaining $20m would be spent on a multipurpose theatre. The court would then have until 2024 to raise the remaining $35m.

The report said the multipurpose theatre would generate ‘‘a new stream of economic benefits for a comparatively lower cost’’ and could be built within the council’s $30m budget.

The report did not consider the benefits of a new Court Theatre that ‘‘could not be quantified’’, such as ‘‘the contribution the precinct has to the broader Christchurch rebuild, and specifically to the revival of the city centre’’.

‘‘It is likely that the total value of the two fully developed precinct options may be greater than the values expressed in this report.’’

Council customer and community general manager Mary Richardson said the PwC report was one of many informing decisions on the performing arts precinct.

‘‘The report has not been discussed by the council at this stage, but one of the council’s main priorities has always been to activate the central city and we think the Court Theatre is a key part of this,’’ she said. ‘‘No decision has been made as yet, but we are hoping to find a solution that works for the Court Theatre and the wider performing arts community.’’

She said an initial report on the precinct could go to councillors in the next two months.

Court Theatre chief executive Philip Aldridge said a new Court would help attract visitors to the city.

‘‘We believe that it is in the best interests of the community for the Court to move into the performing arts precinct, both economically and culturally. The Court is a proven cultural asset, it leads in its field and is part of the identity of the city.’’

He said the multipurpose venue recommended in the report would be a risk.

‘‘The alternative, which the PwC report proposes, is to try our luck with a new entity, with no business case, no sustainable regular market and no identified consistent product.

‘‘On the plus side it costs less and so is ‘best value for money’. It is another venue for hire when we have the Isaac Theatre Royal, the town hall, the James Hay [Theatre], spaces at the Arts Centre [with more to come], Papa Hou, The Piano and others.’’

He said 135,000 people attended shows, education programmes and corporate events at the Court in 2016 and this footfall would help the city centre.

The Court Theatre had not yet signed up for the precinct, but representatives have said they would be keen to return to the city centre if there was a building that was financially viable to build and operate.