The proposed centre was left out of the Queenstown Lakes District Council’s draft long-term plan (LTP), but Mr Hadfield said on Wednesday the public could urge a change of heart by making submissions by July 28.
Mr Hadfield is the deputy chairman of the Wānaka Upper Clutha Community Board and also a member of the Wānaka Arts and Cultural Centre Trust (WACT), which has been working on feasibility plans and designs for the new centre since 2021, with the goal of delivering a council-owned, debt-free facility by 2030.
"Speaking as a WACT member, there are a couple of reasons why it [the arts centre] is not in the long-term plan. The first one is there is no money [in the council’s budget] and the second one is that in the feasibility study, it shows in first few years of operating, 50% of income is going to come from conferences, not shows.
"This, if you look on the surface of it, implies we are building a conference centre, not an arts centre. But it is because conferences can be booked quickly. It takes time to build up bookings for shows," Mr Hadfield explained.
He said it would take no time at all to drum up enthusiasm for shows from arts patrons.
The reason for fewer shows than conferences in the early years was that most touring promoters and artists already knew what they were doing up to 18 months in advance.
"For example, Sarah Millican — she is a one-woman comedy show — she has already set her dates in advance for 2025. Christchurch already knows what shows they are getting next year. It takes a while to build bookings up."
He understood the council’s ongoing hangover from multimillion-dollar leaky building claims was one reason why the performing arts centre did not make the draft LTP.
If the facility was not in the next long-term plan, the opportunity to get it into a long-term plan would not come around again for another three years, Mr Hadfield said.
In May, WACT chairman Michael Sidey proposed splitting the $70 million development cost between WACT ($30 million) and the council ($40 million).
At that time, the trust had pledges of $2m, which if the project got into the draft LTP and went live, WACT would use to employ an architect and a project manager, Mr Sidey told the Otago Daily Times in May.
Mr Hadfield said the council would end up with a $70m building handed to them for $40m.
"That in itself is massive."
"As a community board member, I am in favour of it. As a WACT member, I am in favour of it," he said.
