After years of back and forward discussion, public consultations and scrapped plans, the Timaru District Council (TDC) late last month finally decided to upgrade the Stafford St theatre building.
The heritage hub aspect of the theatre project was scrapped earlier this year, and while a new museum building has been promised on land behind the theatre, it is not yet clear when that will happen.
Four options were placed in front of councillors, and in a six to three vote — mayor Nigel Bowen abstained due to a perceived conflict of interest — option 1B was ultimately decided on.
The vote also included going ahead without further public consultation.
The option proposed an upgrade of the Theatre Royal building to make it fit-for-purpose while retaining the heritage status of the building.
It also featured the development of a new laneway connecting Barnard St and Stafford St, which would also aid the staged development of a new museum on the site behind the theatre.
The "B" part of option 1 was the confirmation the museum would be built.
The decision was ardently welcomed by Save Timaru’s Arts and Rebuild our Theatre (Start) co-founder Jess Young.
"Start members are absolutely stoked with the decision to move forward with option 1B," she said.
"The refurbishment of the Theatre Royal with the ability to add a new museum at a later stage was the best option put to the councillors after the Heritage Hub plans were ditched, and we are pleased to see that common sense has prevailed at last.
"We are hopeful that this project will now continue to push on, and that there will be no more uncertainty and broken promises.
"Start members have overwhelmingly declared a desire to remain active and carry on advocating for the performing arts in the Timaru district."
South Canterbury Drama League president Kevin Foley was also very pleased by the decision.
"The South Canterbury Drama League is very supportive of the recent TDC decision regarding the Theatre Royal development," he said.
"A civic theatre will add to the large number of quality recreation facilities in our community. It will be a centre for all aspects of performing arts, including the visiting productions which have bypassed Timaru in the last years.
"The drama league is particularly pleased that the council is open to receiving suggestions about the practical aspects of the ‘behind the scenes’ activities such as loading bays, sound and lighting installations, dressing rooms and side stage space.
"The approved project will provide up-to-date theatre facilities while maintaining and enriching the century-plus heritage of the Theatre Royal."
South Canterbury Museum Development Trust chairman John Simpson said the decision was still a little bit of an unknown quantity for them.
"The news was obviously better than a no — from a museum trust perspective we can only rely on what the council do next and there is some vaguery surrounding exactly what that will be.
"We are eagerly anticipating something happening and the museum trust is capable of raising money, which we have proved in the leadup, and we are certainly still willing and able to do that once we get clear direction from the council.
"My question to the council is when?"
While it was nice that the museum had been included, he did not believe everything had been taken into account, Mr Simpson said.
"It’s still a little early to tell how it will work out and I don’t want to sound like that old broken record but in my opinion the [Heritage Hub option] was the best option on the table.
"It made sense in so many ways. I’m also a realist and I know that right now isn’t a good time to be frivolously spending money that is coming out of the ratepayers’ pocket.
"For us to say ‘we want a museum, damn the costs’ is not what I’m saying. We know why we need a museum, the other one is not fit-for-purpose and we have outgrown it.
"Great that it does look like we will get one — however, how much more sense did it make when it was under one roof?"
The council has delegated authority to the chief executive to proceed with phase 1 of the staged development of the Theatre Royal, up to $24million of the $30m budget.
Stage 2 would be the building of a new museum on the site behind the theatre facing Barnard St. A timeline for that has not been set.
The next steps will be entering a procurement process for the detailed design, then going through statutory processes.
The council is hoping work will begin in 2025.
