KEY POINTS:
Auckland's long-awaited Q Theatre has secured enough of the $21 million it needs to begin construction next year.
"It feels like we are on the runway and are starting to take off," general manager Susanne Ritzenhoff said yesterday.
"We are really getting into what we set out to do. It has been a challenging task and an exciting task," she said.
The Q Theatre is a flexible performing arts venue of 350 to 460 seats sited behind the Town Hall in Queen St.
When finished in late 2011, it will fill a lengthy gap for a medium-sized theatre in Auckland since the demise of the Watershed Theatre in 1996.
The theatre project has had a topsy turvy ride and risen in cost and specs from $9 million in 2004 to $21 million.
Last year, the incoming council under Mayor John Banks and Citizens and Ratepayers had to make the call on whether to stick with a commitment of $9.2 million approved by the previous council.
It decided the project had come too far and committed giving the land and existing buildings, $9.6 million in capital costs and ongoing operational support of up to $400,000 a year for five years.
Mr Banks, whose council is cutting hundreds of millions of dollars of other capital expenditure to hold rates to inflation, said it was very rewarding to see Q Theatre close to fruition.
With virtually all of the funding nailed down, thanks to $6 million from the Lottery Grants Board's significant projects fund this month, Q Theatre is getting down to detailed design work.
Susanne Ritzenhoff said local architect Pip Cheshire and architectural theatre specialist Virginia Ross, of Melbourne, structural and acoustic engineers were preparing the detailed designs to obtain building consent. The theatre obtained resource consent this year and all going well, construction would begin late next year and take two years.
Suzanne Ritzenhoff, who has led the project for nearly two years, said there were going to be some hard decisions to keep the project within budget, but believed the downturn in the property sector would make for a competitive tender.
Meanwhile, Auckland Theatre Company chairman Kit Toogood, QC, said the council had made it clear there was no money or priority for a new home for the professional theatre company.
The University of Auckland has given its long-time actor tenants notice that their home in the Maidment Theatre is not necessarily secure.
FUNDING
* Auckland City Council - $9.6m.
* Lottery Grants Board - $6m.
* ASB Trust and other sources - $5.1m.
* Total $20.7m.
TIMELINE
1996: Watershed Theatre closes.
2000: New Theatre initiative begins.
2002: Auckland City Council gives "in principle" support for theatre behind Auckland Town Hall.
2004: Council backs $9m theatre with provision of land and buildings, plus $3m.
2005: Cost rises to $12.5m.
2006: Q Theatre brand is launched.
2007: Cost rises to $17.8m. Council increases contribution to $9.2m.
2007: New council confirms support.
2008: Cost rises to $21m. Funding all but secured.
2009: Construction due to start.
