Decision time for opera house

The strengthening of the Hawke’s Bay Opera House will be the “first and vital plank” of a bold vision for a cultural heart for Hastings.

Hastings District councillors decided yesterday that the council will hold a full public consultation in February on the detailed plan for the work on the opera house, and outline a wider longer term vision for a “culturemercial” hub, linking the opera house, Municipal Buildings and Civic Square.

Council’s recommendation to the public will be to strengthen the opera house to between 70 and 75 per cent of building code, at a cost of $? Million. Also in the consultation will be a proposal to put a permanent roof over the Opera House Plaza to make it more broadly usable. The only other real option is to demolish the 100-year-old structure, said Hastings mayor Lawrence Yule.

“We are going out to public consultation. It will cost a substantial amount of money, however that money is already in the budget. We understand that the opera house is important to many people in the community, and we want to ask the public for their view on the options available,” he said.

The Independent Working Group (IWP), put together by Hastings District Council to look at central city projects in its plan after the 100-year-old opera house was found to be unsafe, put their recommendations to council yesterday (Dec 17).

Those projects included the future of the opera house and the Municipal Buildings, the planned upgrade of Civic Square, and the potential for attracting a hotel into the city centre.

There IWP agreed that there are really only two choices for the earthquake-prone Hawke’s Bay Opera House; upgrade it or demolish it.

Its strong recommendation was to repair the opera house, calling it a “cornerstone of Hastings” and integral to the character of the city.

On the other projects, It said council should take a measured approach to options for the Municipal Buildings and further investigate plans to re-invigorate Civic Square that were put on hold when the problems with the opera house were discovered.

On the Municipal Buildings, the IWP said while it is also a heritage building of great merit, it would be unwise to spend in the region of $7 million to repair it when there was no obvious use for the building. It was underutilised prior to its closure and strengthening it without a plan would be a waste. It suggested investigating whether a private investor could be interested in developing it into a hotel or commercial property, such as shops and offices.

On Civic Square, the IWP said the council should revisit the design for refurbishment put together prior to a halt being put on the project. Those plans had been partially consulted on with key groups, including iwi, and with some “tweaking” could fulfil the desire to make the opera house – Civic Square sector the “cultural heart” of Hastings.

The original plans for Civic Square, which is home to Hastings War Memorial Library, Hastings City Art Gallery, Heretaunga Women’s Centre, the Memorial Cenotaph, the Pou, the Rotary water fountain, the wishing well, the Guilin Sister City Tree, and a playground, were the result of a design competition council ran in 2012. From 32 formal entries, a submission from Mitchell Stout Architects and Professor Mike Austin was chosen as the winner. To see the report click here.

4 October 2017

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