Photo: RNZ / Leonard Powell
The owner of Auckland's St James hopes to have the historic theatre opened for its 100th birthday.
Built in 1928, the Queen Street theatre has been closed since 2007 after it was damaged in a fire.
Auckland Council has re-commited to providing $15 million to assist in its restoration, in addition to $15m from the Ministry for Culture and Heritage.
"It's $15 million from council and $15 million from us, so it's about $45 million worth of project, and that gets the structural upgrade done of the building so the building will be secure for the next 100 years," owner Steve Bielby told Morning Report on Friday.
"They'll have all new services inside it, and we'll give the inside a pretty good freshen up."
The 1920s theatre has hosted some of the world's biggest acts including James Brown, Muse, Miles Davis and Joni Mitchell. If it does reopen in 2028, it would have been closed for a fifth of its entire lifespan.
Steve Bielby with local MP Chlöe Swarbrick inside the St James in 2022. Photo: Benjamin Brooking
Funding was promised by Auckland Council in 2016 and was confirmed again after a vote on Thursday evening. Mayor Wayne Brown said he had mixed feelings about the project, and would not have committed ratepayer funds towards it had it been up to him, but could "no longer accept the eyesore it has become and must make the best use of a difficult situation".
Bielby hoped the St James' reopening would revitalise the area, which has struggled in recent years from Covid-19 restrictions, the move to working from home and the construction of the City Rail Link (CRL).
"I think this project's the, I guess the start or the catalyst of the midtown regeneration. There's a whole block right in the centre of the city, which is just - it's decrepit and it's not a fun place to be, and I think putting life and activity back in there and bringing people back into that area as the new CRL opens up and the station opens just across the road there, will really revitalise the area."
The new St James will offer a different experience, he said.
"What [the funding] doesn't cover is the theatre-specific stuff for the backstage, so we're not setting it up as a theatre. We're setting it up as - like the Civic is - we're setting it up like a multi-purpose venue. So it'll be able to do concerts, comedy, corporate stuff, but it doesn't preclude it in the future being reconfigured and set up to do those musicals and things like that."
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