Theatres battle for supremacy
Christchurch theatre bosses are battling over who should be first to move into the proposed performing arts precinct in the city centre.
Theatre producer Michael Bell believes his $17 million purple Andromeda theatre should be built first because it would help the city’s arts scene, while Court Theatre chief executive Philip Aldridge believes his $45m theatre would help revitalise the city centre.
The battle comes as Christchurch city councillors prepare to consider a staff report on the performing arts precinct at a private meeting on Thursday. The council agenda said the meeting will be held in private ‘‘to protect matters of commercial activity, negotiations and to avoid prejudicing commercial positions.’’
The $30 million council budget for the precinct regeneration project, planned for a site site bound by Armagh, New Regent, Gloucester and Colombo streets, means there is not enough money to build both theatres at once.
Bell said the Court Theatre’s plans to relocate from Addington were ‘‘tired and dated’’ and would be built at the expense of the ratepayer and the wider Christchurch theatre community.
Aldridge called the criticism ‘‘ill-informed, speculative and misleading’’.
Precinct plans include a new home for the Court, a car park building and a second multipurpose performance venue for a range of arts groups on a site bound by Armagh, New Regent, Gloucester and Colombo streets. The Christchurch City Council is developing the project with $30 million in funding, while the Government is buying the land.
A leaked report commissioned by the council revealed a new Court Theatre would cost $45m and a second multi-purpose theatre about $17m. The car park would cost about $20m, but already had about $7m in council funding, according to the report by accountancy
"The point of The Court being in the central city is that it is a proven company, with established credentials and the biggest attendances of any performing arts company in the country." Court Theatre chief executive Philip Aldridge
firm PwC. That leaves a $15m funding shortfall if just the Court Theatre is built on the site.
The report said the car park building would generate about $1m a year in revenue, which could be used to offset higher operational costs for the new Court Theatre.
Aldridge has proposed the precinct should be built in stages as there is not enough funding. He proposed building the car park, then the new Court and, much later, the multi-purpose theatre.
Bell believes the multipurpose theatre should be built first. He said just building the Court Theatre and not a multipurpose theatre would be damaging for the city’s art scene.
‘‘The images we have seen of The Court proposal are very flash looking indeed, but their business plan just doesn’t stack up. Even if the Court Theatre was to remove the multiuse theatre (which would be to the detriment of the rest of the performing arts community), they are still $15 million short in capital and $1m short per year, which The Court is proposing is paid by the ratepayer, directly via a car park.’’
He said the Court Theatre wanted to ‘‘delete the planned multipurpose theatre from the performing arts precinct at the expense of the remainder of the performing arts community and the ratepayer’’. He doubted the commercial income would raise enough money for a new multipurpose theatre. He said his theatre, called Andromeda, should be built first in the precinct.
‘‘The Court can and should be a part of the precinct, but we need Andromeda in there first. It’s a small investment for the city, can be built right now with available funds, will create $20m of income for the city annually, while The Court continues to create their $4m for the local economy in The Shed, and once the money has been raised for The Court, they can move in too.’’
‘‘The city has an incredible depth of talent. We have a growing theatre industry that can do us proud on the world stage but please don’t let one theatre company ... waltz into such an important part of the city with what we see as a rather tired and dated proposal. We have a once in a lifetime opportunity here, let’s not squander that. Let’s make sure any decisions made are fully informed and transparent.’’
Aldridge said The Court was the best theatre company to bring people back in to the city centre and spur regeneration.
‘‘The point of The Court being in the central city is that it is a proven company, with established credentials and the biggest attendances of any performing arts company in the country. This will activate the area which is imperative for regeneration ‘‘Under The Court’s business plan, which Mr Bell freely criticises without having seen it, this will be the ignition project which will lead to commercial activity. This in turn will provide revenue to be invested in the wider performing arts sector.’’ ‘‘It’s an innovative plan which benefits a broad constituency of artists and audiences. It is unfortunate that Mr Bell’s criticisms are ill-informed, speculative and misleading.’’