KEY POINTS:
Instead of trying to persuade the Government to bankroll something as boring as a passenger terminal on Queens Wharf, why don't we seek funds for an asset that will benefit Aucklanders and tourists alike? A national theatre centre, perhaps.
We're told a sexy cruise-ship entry point will persuade tourists to linger in Auckland before heading off to wherever it is busloads of tourists go. Surely an exciting new theatre complex would have a similar effect - and if not, at least we locals could enjoy ourselves.
Auckland City Council's hearing this week into the proposed Q Theatre's application for a monetary lifeline highlighted the parlous lack of theatre space in Auckland - home to a third of New Zealand's population.
Proponents of this new 350-460 seat flexible stage theatre next to the Town Hall have been pushing for it since 1997. The estimated cost has risen from $9.3 million in 2003 to $21 million last month.
Past councils have pledged $9.2 million and last Tuesday councillors said enough, but advanced $200,000 to enable the proponents to seek additional funding through the Lotteries Significant Projects Fund.
More significantly, councillors agreed to a call from both the bureaucrats and arts organisations for an urgent review into Auckland's theatre venue needs and for the setting of priorities. Amazingly, the last time such an exercise was completed was in 1997.
Consulting firm Deloitte concluded then that the most pressing need was for a flexiform venue in the 200- to 400-seat range that could cater for innovative and contemporary theatre and dance. Which is what the Q project is designed to be.
But since then, much has changed. Most importantly, the future of both the University of Auckland's 450-seater Maidment Theatre and the casino-based 700-seat SkyCity Theatre are in question. For years these two venues have been the key homes for the Auckland Theatre Company and professional theatre in Auckland.
ATC's submission on Tuesday was blunt. "Auckland City is desperately short of adequate venues for the performing arts. There is a huge gap between the Herald Theatre (186 seats) and the ASB Theatre and Civic Theatre, each of which caters for audiences of over 2000." Noting the question mark over the future of the Maidment, "it is crucial to the development of the performing arts in Auckland City to provide a 550-seat drama theatre, a 1200-seat multipurpose venue for theatre, ballet, opera and other stage shows, [and] a 350-450 seat flexiform space for the performing arts generally."
ATC pointedly noted the council was being asked to make a significant contribution to a project "which is only a partial solution to the city's venue requirements" and said a decision "should not take place in isolation".
The Aotea Centre's board of management had identical concerns, noting the "very real shortage of venues in the Auckland CBD" and calling for "a rigorous analysis of the range of art and entertainment forms we wish to see in the city over a 10- to 15-year horizon".
The review is an essential first step but its findings will only underline the urgency of the problem, it won't solve it.
With the penny-pinching stance of the new council, it's hard to see it rushing to fill the gaps. And even if the royal commission into Auckland governance proposes the funding of cultural infrastructure on a regional rather than a city basis, it's hard to imagine new temples of culture rising up overnight. That means the immediate priority is to preserve what we have.
First the city has to turn the blowtorch on the university. For an institution that craves closer town and gown relationships and sets itself up as a centre of culture, unilaterally signalling an intent to close/rebuild/replace the city's only adequately sized drama theatre without debate with the town is a weird way of saying, "we are part of Auckland".
Then there's the 700-seat SkyCity Theatre. Its fate was in the balance last year because it was deemed unprofitable by management. Somehow it survived the internal review, but rentals have been ramped up. What next? Without these two theatres, live drama in Auckland will be in peril.
Councillors must not just review future needs, they must come up with a plan to ensure existing facilities remain open at least until replacement facilities can be conjured up.
