Founders keepers lose fight
Hamilton council votes 9-4 to demolish theatre
After numerous delays, emotive pleas and threats of political annihilation, Founders Theatre is to be demolished.
Those in favour of saving the city’s mothballed theatre turned up en masse to Hamilton City Council’s debating chamber yesterday to make one final plea.
The council meeting followed a call by elected members in late April to reject a proposal by the Theatre of the Impossible Trust (TOTI) to repurpose the 60-yearold theatre as a community hub.
After a protracted and, at times, bitter debate, councillors voted 9 to 4 to demolish the once premier theatre and transform the site into a multipurpose park. Founders was closed in 2016 due to health and safety concerns. Since then, the city council has committed
$25 million to a new regional theatre at the site of the old Hamilton Hotel. The new $76.3m riverside theatre is due to open in 2024. Councillor Mark
Bunting said the decision to permanently close Founders was essentially made once the council committed funds to the Waikato Regional Theatre. The loss of Founders would be felt by many people but it was time for the city to move on, he said.
Despite a recognised need for more space in the city for community groups, repurposing Founders was not the answer.
‘‘This is a grand old theatre. Founders is a theatre,’’ Bunting said. ‘‘And yet again we are asking the community to fit in around a building that was built for something else. This is, simply to me, a debate about what is best for the community.’’
Emotions threatened to spill over during the meeting when a procedural motion was floated by councillor Ryan Hamilton and seconded by Bunting, that would have short-circuited the Founders debate and brought the matter straight to a vote.
‘‘Disgraceful. Disgraceful leadership,’’ a visibly emotional councillor Martin Gallagher repeatedly called out. ‘‘Good luck for the election, folks.’’
After pausing the meeting and taking legal advice, Hamilton mayor Paula Southgate declined to accept the
procedural motion and acknowledged the strong emotions attached to Founders.
‘‘This issue ignites passions like no other issue we have tackled this term,’’ Southgate said. ‘‘We need better community space, but we need fit-for-purpose [space] not necessarily another retrofit of an old building.
‘‘The community actually deserves better than that.’’
TOTI’s business case estimated rejuvenating Founders would cost $10m and would have yearly operating expenses of $500,000 and a
projected yearly income of $550,000. However, TOTI’s costings were challenged by council management who argued the trust’s figures appeared ‘‘light’’.
TOTI spokesperson Margaret Evans said the trust visited Founders on Wednesday and were joined by notable Waikato business figures Robin Ratcliffe and Harry Mowbray. Evans said the pair, together with businessman John Gallagher, had expressed support for Founders being repurposed.
In reply, deputy mayor Geoff Taylor said the debate over Founders was emotive but the community had already done their grieving for the building. ‘‘I think most of the community has accepted what needs to happen . . . I think it is just the poor old council rattling on about this,’’ Taylor said.
‘‘You could drive a truck through this [TOTI] business case, you could drive Te Huia through it.
‘‘Since it closed, the Founders has cost $140,000 a year, that is about $700,000 that could have been spent somewhere else.’’
Council staff confirmed work to demolish Founders could theoretically start on July 1.
Councillor Mark Donovan said Founders would never be forgotten and would live on in people’s storytelling.
Suggestions that voting in support of Founders’ demolition could cost elected members votes at October’s election had to be kept in context.
‘‘I just say it is water off a duck’s back at this stage,’’ Donovan said.
In 2020, the council asked for public feedback on Founders. Of 505 submissions, 84% wanted to remove the theatre and create a multipurpose park.
How they voted: Motion to decline the TOTI proposal and to proceed with a $4m upgrade of the Founders site:
For: Mayor Paula Southgate, deputy mayor Geoff Taylor, councillors Rob Pascoe, Mark Bunting, Kesh Naidoo-Rauf, Mark Donovan, Sarah Thomson, Ryan Hamilton and Maxine van Oosten.
Against: Councillors Martin Gallagher, Dave Macpherson, Angela O’Leary and Ewan Wilson.