Hamilton City Council is giving Founders Theatre supporters one last chance to make their case.
Hamilton City Council is giving Founders Theatre supporters one last chance to make their case.
Hamilton’s Founders Theatre may have faced its final curtain, but friends of the theatre working to save the building have made it clear they will state a case, of which they are certain.
Hamilton City Council’s community and natural environment committee last month gave the Theatre of the Impossible Trust (TOTI) another extension to review its proposal for repurposing the theatre as a community hub.
To be frank, some of the council would like to bring down the house, saying a comprehensive Founders rebuild from the base upwards would cost about $41 million.
TOTI is back for an encore and says it can “rehab and reopen” the theatre “at no cost to the council” and fast.
Founders Theatre opened in 1962, and has lived a life that’s full: people travelled each and every highway to see acts like Louis Armstrong, the Beach Boys and Lou Reed.
In 2016, the end was near: the theatre was closed due to significant safety concerns and has since been identified as earthquake prone.
The council did what it had to do and consulted with the community three times since the building’s closure. In line with the feedback, the council decided to demolish the building to turn the space into a multipurpose park and community performance area.
The Theatre of the Impossible Trust (TOTI) wants to turn the old Founders Theatre into a community hub for heritage and culture. Image / Supplied
TOTI insists it can save the theatre from demolition and turn it into a community hub for heritage and culture for about $10 million. The trust has been petitioning for this since 2021.
The council says TOTI needs to “undertake a comprehensive condition assessment” of the building that would then be reviewed by independent parties.
“If TOTI does not provide what has been requested, the building will be demolished as previously resolved,” the council says.
TOTI spokeswomann Robin Ratcliffe says the trust already had “a team of professional advisers and tradespeople” inspect the building at the end of May.
Theatre of the Impossible trustee Margaret Evans.
“[We] can confirm the original $10 million estimate and a very fast timeframe to fix up Founders ... the project already has extensive offers of pro bono and discounted work and we are confident of attracting even more … because it’s a community project, for the public good,” Ratcliffe says.
TOTI trustee Margaret Evans says the trust had formed a Founders Hub Establishment Board to undertake the repurposing at no cost to the council.
“Council is being asked to gift the empty public building to [the board]. It is suggested that councillors set a three-year progress review term and retain the $5 million currently in the budget for demolition ... as a financial cushion for the future if there is still a determination to demolish.”
Evans says councillors have been invited to see an example of how things could be done on a visit to the former Waikato Times building in Foreman Rd on Tuesday, June 6.
The building has been repurposed as a school (Te Kōpuku High). “All for $2 million and it’s a building larger than Founders.”
Evans says TOTI had so far received interest from 37 community groups to be a part of its suggested hub.
“We have consulted with THaWK (Te Haa o Te Whenua of Kirikiriroa) representing mana whenua, and have their confirmation as advisers, supporters, and users of our repurposed Founders.”
The council will consider the matter at its meeting on June 15. It remains to be seen if Margaret Evans and TOTI will be able to say: “They did it My Way.”
