The Hawke's Bay Opera House is set to be strengthened in August after 80 per cent of residents were in favour of re-opening the building.
Hastings mayor Lawrence Yule was pleased to make the announcement but said it has been a very detailed process getting to this point.
"We are aware that our residents have shown a lot of patience while they wait for the project to get started," Mr Yule said.
An extensive public consultation was carried out last year, which asked residents if they were in favour of strengthening and re-opening the opera house.
Eighty per cent of these respondents were in favour of bringing the building up to 70 to 75 per cent of the current New Building Standard.