The owners of the Playhouse Theatre, the Athenaeum building and the Mayfair Theatre produced a combined pitch last year to enable staged refurbishment of all three.
"Our venues are deteriorating and are already on borrowed time," the Dunedin Theatre Network said.
"Without investment we anticipate they have only a few years before they will need to close."
The network has not so far secured funding from the Dunedin City Council.
"We have heard a consistent message that our refurbishment projects align well with funders’ objectives and are of interest to them, but that local authority funding is critical," the network said in a submission to the council’s draft annual plan.
"This is a huge project, and we can’t do it — or fund it — alone."
The network is seeking about $100,000 initially for work to refine costs and designs, "allowing the community and potential funders to see exactly what is possible, and how much it would cost".
However, the overall plan would probably involve making use of $17.1 million the city council set aside in its 2021-31 long-term plan for developing a performing arts venue.
The council identified a preferred option, but it struggled to find favour from the live music sector and broader theatre community, and momentum was lost.
The network of three venues then stepped into the void, putting up its alternative idea of carrying out a staged redevelopment over six to eight years at the three sites — starting with the Playhouse and ending with the Mayfair — at a price of more than $38 million.
It intended the council to be a cornerstone investor.
"The fact that they are three heritage buildings makes the case even more compelling."
The network has had significant engagement with the performing arts community about its concept in recent months, which included discussion about how the needs of professional theatre might be accommodated.
Performance studio spaces within a refurbished Athenaeum building would help with this, the network argued.
It also proposed developing a memorandum of understanding with the council.
Its document presented to the council ahead of draft annual plan hearings this week reasserted what is perceived to be at stake.
Dunedin was missing out on performing arts experiences and was at risk of losing more.
"Our discussions confirmed several local performing arts organisations have stopped staging some or all their work in Dunedin, purely because of a lack of appropriate, up-to-scratch venues."
