The announcement comes as the community celebrates the "significant and emotional" reopening of the 102-year-old building with a 10-day festival of events.
Council chief executive Michael Ross said yesterday the target was reached with only a $3 million contribution from the council's property division, with other funds coming from government sources, charitable found-ations, council reserves and community fund-raising.
Fundraising had continued right up to the official opening of the Opera House on Friday, with a further $85,000 raised through local sponsorship.
Mr Ross said the fundraising had been hugely successful, raising a sum that exceed-ed expec-tations.
Waitaki Mayor Alex Familton said the reopening of the Opera House was "significant and emotional in so many ways".
"It is truly an investment in people for the next 100 years. How do we begin to put a monetary value on such an investment for the future," he asked.
The $7 million from outside the district was of huge economic and social value, Mr Familton said.
Corporate services group manager Stephen Halliwell, who was also project manager for the redevelopment, said more than 70% of the funding had come from outside the district.
"A lot of people believed we couldn't do it," he said.
The original cost of the project was almost $9.8 million.
Mr Halliwell said the extra money spent was because of extra funding from the lotteries board, which meant items not in the original project could be added.
The board had contributed $4.586 million to the project and the Community Trust of Otago $1.5 million - at the time the largest grant outside Dunedin.
The Oamaru Licensing Trust, through its charitable foundation, contributed $306,627 and local fund-raising $534,937.
That underscored the commitment by former mayor Alan McLay that the council would do its best to ensure rates were not used to fund the project.
