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Plans to build the Q Theatre received a boost yesterday after the Auckland City Council agreed to release a further $200,000 for the project.
The money will allow the resource consents process to start and enable the theatre board to approach the Government for funding.
Senior members of the theatre board appeared before the council's finance and strategy committee to argue the case for further funding amid fears the council would defer part of its previously-agreed grant.
The council was revisiting its involvement in the project after continued increases in its budget.
Q Theatre chairman David Appleby said that would effectively have left the project dead in the water, unable to qualify for the necessary Government support.
Board members were loudly supported by dozens of representatives of Auckland's arts community, including actors Michael Hurst and Peter Elliott, and former Mayor and Governor General Dame Cath Tizard.
The proposed Q Theatre is a flexible performing arts venue of 350 to 460 seats behind the Town Hall in Queen St, as well as a 100-seat studio and rehearsal space. It would fill the gap for a medium-sized theatre created by the demise of the Watershed Theatre in 1996.
The council's total contribution is set at $9.2 million and Mayor John Banks said the board would have "a very steep hill to climb" to get any further money from the council.
Since 2004, the cost of the project has risen from $9 million to between $20 million and $21 million.
The theatre faces a dilemma.
Its proponents argue Auckland has a serious shortage of performing arts space and needs such facilities if it is to be considered a world-class city.
But Mr Banks and the Citizens & Ratepayers group have pledged to trim council spending and be more "fiscally prudent" than their predecessors.
Mr Banks said he was concerned that costs would rise further after tenders were called to build the theatre. Mr Appleby said the new budget was not "a cost blow-out".
"It reflects the reality of dealing with a difficult site which forms part of the council's desire to congregate the arts sector around the Aotea Centre," he said. "This is not really a rates issue. The investment is about .03 per cent of rates take. It is a political issue - does this council want a vibrant arts sector?"
Councillor Greg Moyle said the case for the Q Theatre has been "discussed, debated and documented for 10 years".
He added: "Further delay is not acceptable - we need this theatre. This is the one that has done the hard yards."
The committee will make a final decision on its involvement in the project once Government funding has been secured and the final budget laid out.
