Megan Peacock-Coyle, Toitoi manager, wants the new complex to be a space the community feel is their own. Photo / Warren Buckland
Cameron Wichman spent his childhood performing in the Hawke's Bay Opera House. One of his first big acts as an adult, was to help reconstruct it.
Wichman, 20, who started his carpentry apprenticeship on the building in 2018 is one of the close to 300 workers who have turned the grand old building from earthquake-prone, to a pillar of the community.
Toitoi - the Hawke's Bay Arts and Events Centre - as it is now known, officially opens on Saturday after six years.
The work to get to this point has been extensive, and it's something that the public might never fully appreciate, Wichman says.
The total cost of reconstructing the Opera House, Cushing Foyer, and the venue now known as Functions on Hastings, was $17.8 million.
Wichman grew up in Hawke's Bay and remembers doing performances at the Opera House as a child. To be a part of its rebirth is special.
"It's a nice feeling.
"The public will never know what we've done, they see the outside which looks the same as before and have no idea of the extent of what's gone on inside, and that's a cool feeling too."
The reconstruction of an iconic building
The two-and-a-half-year build needed 250-300 people on-site and behind the scenes, including 12 apprentices, Gemco Construction manager Eddie Holmes says.
Holmes said the Toitoi build was "logistically challenging and extremely labour intensive".
The build was more challenging than a standard house construction but gave apprentices the opportunity to learn unique skills.
"The ability to learn the basics in an environment that doesn't get much tougher along with working within a team of hugely varied skills is a benefit," Holmes said.
"It's the structural component - it's working within a structure where you have to do a certain amount of demolition without compromising the structural integrity of the build," Holmes said.
There were around 50-60 people working on the build every day and 80 a day across all trades in the peak time as well as many more people off-site such as fabricators and administrators, Holmes said.
Replicating the ornate plasterwork and detail took days and using specialised and custom-built tools made it a project to remember, he said.
"It's great cause the team all know what's gone into it even if no one else does," Holmes said.
A new vision
The reopening of the complex brings with it a focus on being an inclusive space for all members of the community.
The big picture is to be the first "4th Generation Arts Centre" in regional New Zealand, a concept by Steven A Wolf, an American arts management consultant, defined as "a learning environment through which new experiences are generated and new knowledge is created that enhances cultural awareness, expression and understanding".
The focus is on making Toitoi a hub for community, culture and commercial that has a strong audience focus, not just a space for the upper classes to be seen.
"We want all of our community to see their face in our place," Toitoi manager Megan Peacock-Coyle said.
"We want to be a next-generation venue, not just a venue with ballet and opera, those classic performing arts, but a more curated venue bringing work everyone would want to see and things which are a bit different," she said.
Shows will vary in price, genre and art type and audiences will be consulted annually through a survey.
"If you look at the Opera House, it's very European looking.
"But if your whānau are performing, as an audience, you are seeing your group, your whānau, your culture represented.
"It won't just be the ballet and opera, of course, those are very special art forms, but we want to bring work that is a little bit different and may not have come to Hawke's Bay otherwise"
Peacock-Coyle also wants Toitoi to be a space that communities can use and create in.
"We want to make it accessible and affordable so that you can bring in your school show, your dance recital, your multi-cultural event, those sorts of things.
"The arts are for everybody, it's not about just coming to see a show, it's about being a part of something and our community.
"The hope is that every single person in Hastings has been to Toitoi once that year."
The complex opens this weekend with the free Toitoi homecoming starting with a dawn blessing at 5.30am on Saturday and a community festival the following day from 10am to 2pm.
Shows will begin the following weekend with Barbarian Productions Presents the Grand Opening on March 7 and 8.
The interactive, theatrical performance by the Wellington group takes groups of 15 attendees on a 45-minute tour of Toitoi's forgotten spaces.
Audiences arrive to see the show, but it soon becomes clear that something has gone wrong and instead ushers provide a tour of the new complex.
A rich history
The Spanish Mission style building has been an iconic part of Hastings since it was built in 1915 by architect Henry Eli White.
It shut suddenly in 2014 after the building was deemed an earthquake risk.
Hastings Mayor Sandra Hazlehurst said, "The Opera House has held a special place in the hearts of Hastings residents for generations.
"We know our wider community cannot wait to step inside this beautifully refurbished and strengthened building.
"We will once again watch our children and grandchildren dance and sing as families have done here for the past 100 years.
"We will again enjoy national and international performing arts and most importantly, we will have a place to discover and develop our very own local Hastings talent."
Peacock-Coyle said there was a real passion towards this building because of its history and memories.
Now it's time for new ones.
"There's a whole generation of children who have never been here and experienced it.
"Now they can come and think 'wow we have this here', that's one of the most exciting things," she said.
Hastings District Council funded $13.1m of the $17.8m cost.
The New Zealand Lottery Grants Board contributed a Lottery Environment and Heritage grant of $750,000.00 and a Lottery Significant Projects Fund grant of $4m.
The reconstruction has resulted in nine permanent staff for the Toitoi team and 32 casual event crew including four front of house staff hired.
The Municipal Building is currently under construction and is set to be complete early 2022, the cost is not yet known, a Toitoi spokeswoman said.
"Toitoi Hawke's Bay Arts and Events Centre would not be complete without the Municipal Building, which is another important part of our city centre's revitalisation," Hazlehurst said.
"It will be just as we remember with the Shakespeare Room and the Assembly Hall lovingly restored for school balls, conferences, events and other shows.
"The ground floor will feature exciting hospitality and a performing arts base where we can foster and develop our young talent.
“We are thrilled to showcase the incredible talent of our local photographers”.