No cheaper option for Timaru’s theatre project, more consultation possible
Saturday, 6 July 2024
Just over a week out from a meeting to decide the future of a proposed $57 million redevelopment of Timaru’s Theatre Royal and a Heritage Hub, the council boss says no cheaper option for the build has been identified.
Timaru District Council chief executive Nigel Trainor was tasked with seeking out an alternative option for the controversial project in May following a plea from the South Canterbury Chamber of Commerce to do so during Long-Term Plan hearings.
In its submission, Chamber representatives urged the council to reconsider the project and suggested an alternative could be done for a third of the price.
Councillors agreed to allow Trainor to explore a Plan B for the project, at a meeting following the hearings on May 29.
Almost seven weeks on, Trainor said there had been no such option “identified that could complete this project, or an equivalent project, for a third of the cost’’.
This week the council confirmed it would meet to decide the fate of the project on July 16 during an extraordinary council meeting.
Trainor said while no cheaper option had been identified, he would present a paper at that meeting which would take a strategic view of the district and enable alternative options for the project to be discussed.
“And whether the council continues down the current Heritage Hub concept or goes back to the public with alternatives,’’ he said.
Should the latter option be chosen, it would be the third time the council had consulted on the project.
The first was during its 2018-2028 LTP when there was overwhelming support for the upgrade of the theatre, with 78% of respondents supporting either a full upgrade or a stage upgrade.
During consultation the redevelopment of the museum was also raised and as a result the council agreed to progress with a new multi-purpose heritage facility.
The second was in 2022, a month after the council admitted the cost of the project had ballooned from $26.5 million, with councillors voting 7-3 in favour of committing $57.1m to the project. Of the 632 submissions received, 80.49% supported that decision.
Trainor said there would be no impact on the contractual agreement with Southbase Construction Ltd, which was awarded the $3.61m contract in 2023 to develop a design for the project.
Speaking to the chamber’s submission to the LTP on May 28, board member Scott McAuley said if the council was genuine about looking at a greenfields build, he was confident of being able to rally the business community to put forward a proposal.
On Friday, chamber chief executive Wendy Smith said she was not aware of any cheaper option having been put forward, and it was her understanding the matter had been left in the hands of the council and businesses community to “communicate directly’’.
“We delivered the message, that a number of members thought there were cheaper options, and stepped away,’’ Smith said.
The theatre was closed in November 2019 because of safety concerns, and the following year the project received about $11m in shovel-ready funding from the Government.
While there had been other potential “shovel-ready projects in South Canterbury that were considered’’ the prime minister at the time, Jacinda Ardern, said “what we're looking for is those projects that were really ready to go”.
At the time those estimates were not public, with the council citing “commercial reasons’’ and saying they would remain private while South Base Construction completed the tender procurement process.
The final fixed price was expected to be delivered at the meeting next Tuesday.
The agenda for the meeting was yet to be released and was expected to be available from July 11.