Not that this is a surprise. Consideration of such a facility has been on the cards since the sudden closure of the Fortune Theatre in 2018 left a gap in the facilities available for the performing arts. The quest to find what would best serve the city found the answer was a flexible auditorium with about 350 to 450 seats, with space for food and beverage facilities.
An auditorium with 400 seats is the size sought by many professional touring performing arts companies because it allows them to recover their touring costs. Existing venues may be either too big or too small or just impractical. A flexible auditorium is one designed so seating capacity, lighting and sound can be adjusted to suit different sorts of performances. The addition of food and beverage facilities means extra income can be generated to offset operational costs.
The options presented to the council in a closed meeting in December, in advance of possible inclusion in the council’s draft 10-year plan, covered the former nightclub Sammy’s, the Athenaeum in the Octagon, the old Fortune site in Stuart St and the Mayfair Theatre in South Dunedin.
Sammy’s, the former nightclub, was ruled out. The council would have to borrow $38million to redevelop there, more than double the amount required for the Athenaeum.
Those with considerable affection for the former Methodist Church Fortune site will be disappointed this was found to be too small, only able to provide about 230 seats, not considered enough to attract the touring performances. There were also limited options for food and beverage facilities there.
Other venues, including school performance spaces and University of Otago and Otago Polytechnic auditoriums, were considered but discarded because they were primarily for education and could not accommodate regular performances and rehearsal space. King Edward Court in upper Stuart St was also found not viable because the scale of the building would require considerable remediation and seismic strengthening, adding to the construction costs.
The two options which will be put out for public consultation are the Athenaeum and the Mayfair. The Athenaeum has been identified as the preferred (and cheaper) option, with the council partnering with the building owner Zeal Land Ltd.
The second option would be to redevelop the Mayfair working with the Mayfair Theatre Charitable Trust with the possibility of the council buying the building.The report, which went to the council in December, notes developing the Mayfair site could act as a catalyst for regeneration in South Dunedin, alongside the South Dunedin community library and community complex.
Wherever the theatre might be, there will be those who will see this as a nice-to-have facility rather than a necessity. Even those who support the development may question whether it should be delayed, but that would inevitably add to the cost.
At the time of the Fortune Theatre’s demise, we acknowledged that professional theatre was not for everyone, but it was an important component for a vibrant city like Dunedin, a Unesco-designated City of Literature.
We hope there will be enthusiastic participation in the consultation process to aid the council’s decision-making that does not lose sight of that.
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Comments
While it is nice that you hope there will be enthusiastic participation in the consultation process, it would of been more interesting to know your opinion to which option if any should be pursued and why.
The whole idea of another theatre is just more building things hoping they will be used. And from the theatre patronage view of Dunedin before Covid, it is blatantly obvious there is simply no demand from the public for another theatre.
Some theatre groups may think its a great idea, but they won't want to pay the full cost of building and running any new place. They will all expect council or government subsidies for what is for many people just an expensive hobby.