Timaru District Council confirms Theatre Royal cost blowout

Timaru District Council has gone back to the drawing board as predicted costs have blown out to nearly $60m as the Theatre Royal and Heritage Hub, and three options for public consultation have been released.

Council confirmed on Friday that the latest costs could be anywhere from $38m to $57m depending on which option is accepted.

On Friday council’s communication team released a long-awaited statement about decisions made behind closed doors on Tuesday, which was signed off by elected members and underwent legal review.

“Timaru District Council unanimously agreed to take three costed options to the community for their feedback following a detailed briefing from the project team, contractors and specialist consultants,” the statement says.

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“With an indicated increase in costs, due to the complexity of the project as well as local and global building industry pressures, it was decided to take the three strongest options back to the community for their feedback before any final decisions were made.”

Friday’s statement came after the Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment supplied the Timaru Herald information which revealed the cost of the project was estimated as $39.6m in June.

The three options that will be consulted on include two using existing parts of the theatre and building the heritage centre, and one option of only restoring the theatre.

The approximate overall project budget numbers for each option are made up of costs to date, internal council costs, contingency amounts and estimated construction costs.

Options are:

• A. Building the heritage centre and restoration of the theatre, retaining and renovating the stage house, and building a new backstage building, including improving access and connections between the buildings. The estimated costs council has received range from $53-57m. This option includes budgeted Government funding of $11.6m.
• B. Building the heritage centre and restoration of the theatre, retaining and renovating the stage house and backstage building. The estimated costs council has received range from $51-56m. This option includes budgeted Government funding of $11.6m.
• C. Restoring only the theatre. Setting aside adjacent land as a green field site for possible heritage centre development at a later date. The estimated costs council has received range from $38-40m. This option does not have any budgeted Government funding, and it is unclear if government funding will be received for this option and it may have to be fully funded by council.

“Designs, cost and rates impacts, effects on approved Government funding and an overview of regulatory risks will be provided for these options, to enable informed community debate,” the statement says.

“The earlier option to remove and rebuild both the theatre stage house and backstage buildings has been discounted by council on a feasibility and cost basis.

“This decision was based on professional advice that the fabric of the theatre building is in good condition, and that as a heritage listed building it would be highly unlikely to gain resource consent for demolition.”

The MBIE information is included in the June 2022 quarterly report for projects which have been given funding as part of the Government’s ‘Shovel Ready’ stimulus fund.

According to the document, the council has spent $4.32m of that funding, and the total spent on the project up until June 30 was $5.67m.

The Theatre Royal and heritage hub upgrade project received $11.6m from the fund in September 2020, when Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern visited Timaru.

At the time, Ardern said there were other potential “shovel ready projects in South Canterbury that were considered”, but “what we’re looking for is those projects that were really ready to go”.

“They already had a plan in place, they already were positioned for the work to start.

“They were ready to go, it was just a matter of having the additional investment to get it over the line,” she said at the time.

The increased cost estimate provided by the MBIE is the first financial update the community has had in a year.

In September 2021, councillors unanimously approved a third option, to demolish and rebuild the back of the Theatre Royal including the stage house and changing rooms; restore and refurbish the heritage auditorium; and build a new museum and exhibition spaces, while only retaining the façade of the former Criterion Hotel.

At the time, the decision was expected to see the overall cost of the project increase, but by how much was not disclosed.

Since then, the council has not shared any further cost updates with the community, until Friday.

In July 2022, the council confirmed it had finally broken ground on the project and expected work to be completed in 2024. There was no mention of any cost increase – in fact the council confirmed the $29.3m was correct as of July 15.

The Theatre Royal has a category 2 Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga rating. Little of the original structure, a stone store remained. It opened as a theatre on July 16, I877, with the present auditorium, fly tower and dressing rooms added in 1911.