Forward Thinking: We haven't saved the St James, yet

It's been open again since May, hosting a wide array of gigs and performances, but if you thought the St James Theatre was back for good, it turns out you were wrong.

As Tina Plunkett, spokeperson for the Save The St James group explains, it's been open on a limited, preliminary basis, but it has by no means been fully restored.

"When you turn just the stage lights on and the dome lights on, it looks great, but when you turn those lights off and turn the house lights on, it doesn't look quite so great. It needs some love. And you know the upstairs balconies remain closed, and there are holes in the roof, and all that kind of stuff. People love it, and love being able to use it, but it hasn't been saved yet."

Yes there will be more gigs in the theatre this month, and in the new year (including Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Kurt Vile, and Violent Femmes), but in March 2016, the doors will close for further work.

That has been the plan since Relianz Holdings took on the building in 2014. They had always intended to transfer her ownership to the Auckland Notable Properties Trust, and then to close her once more to work on earthquake strengthening so a new set of apartments can be built both on top of the theatre and on the adjacent site, and also to fully restore the theatre to its former glory, with the upper balcony levels reopened.

But this plan was made on the basis that both Auckland Council and the Government would contribute funds to the restoration, to match the large and generous contribution made by Relianz Holdings (who agreed to match any public or private funding dollar for dollar).

Earlier this week, the Auckland Council announced it would put $15 million towards the strengthening and restoration, but the Government has decided it is now "reviewing" its previously suggested $12 million contribution, and Maggie Barry, Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage has fallen silent on the matter.

Both local MPs, Jacinda Ardern and Nikki Kaye, have been vocal in their support of the project, and Kaye has arranged to meet Barry in the new year to discuss the project, but the upshot is basically the way things stand at the moment, the St James may never reopen.

If the Government does not agree to a $12 million contribution, that will mean the budget for the restoration drops by $24 million, from $64 million to $40 million, and though the building will be strengthened and the apartment development will be able to go ahead, the theatre won't be able to reopen for use as a venue.

Because the St James Theatre is protected by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust as a Category 1 building "of special or outstanding historical or cultural heritage significance or value", it cannot be demolished, but without the Government contribution, it could simply sit there, slowly gathering dust, and left to mothball.

So, the Save The St James group is holding a grand party this Friday, with five acts performing on the stage, hoping to raise awareness of the grand old lady's plight.

They're hoping to gather friends and supporters for a memorable night with Tami Neilson, Lawrence Arabia, Voom, Hopetoun Brown, and Tina Turtables performing, and to give people a chance to see the true state of the venue and help to put some pressure on the decision makers.

"While the Government is 'thinking about it', we want people to come and look at the building, see where it's at, and what it's worth to the community," says Plunkett. "Maggie Barry hasn't been to see the building recently, so we just want to remind her, and remind the public of what a wonderful building it is, and emphasise the fact that it hasn't been saved yet, and ask the powers that be to make a decision about it, and make that decision 'Yes!'"

They do certainly plan to do some fundraising in the new year too, but this particular gig is free, and to come along, you simply have to get yourself invited - which can be done through Cheese On Toast, bFM, Public Address, and the Save the St James Facebook event page. Then you can tweet, instagram, Facebook, and blog your little heart out about it, and tell everyone you know to make sure we don't lose the use of this very special space.

"If you have a look at a bird's eye view of that part of the central city, you've got the Civic, the Town Hall, the Basement, the Classic Comedy Club, Q Theatre, Aotea Centre, you've got a giant circle of all these great venues, and smack bang in the middle of it is this eyesore, which has so much potential. It should be a no-brainer to restore it. All the people who book gigs, promoters and so on, think it would be booked solid for the next 10 years easily, because of the particular capacity of the theatre, the type of space it is, how flexible it is, and the special historic nature of the place.

"We don't have anything else like it, and it certainly attracts artists who might not otherwise play here."