The Romans knew there was nothing like a good circus to cheer everyone up in times of adversity.
So, it seems, does the Auckland City Council.
While the rest of the country is talking doom and gloom and catching the next flight out, our city mothers and fathers are planning a waterfront indoor entertainment arena costing between $100 million and $120 million.
It will be somewhere to hear Ricky Martin, the Three Tenors or amplified opera without an umbrella or mosquito repellent at the ready.
The decision will finally put Auckland into the entertainment-stadium circuit which includes Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne and Christchurch and provide a venue for the big-budget international shows increasingly passing us by.
There are still a few obstacles to surmount before the dream becomes a reality - little matters like sorting out how to finance the city's $50 million contribution, and choosing a private-sector partner - but these are just the small print.
With a resounding 12 votes to five in favour (those against were Councillors Goodman, Leadbeater, Northey, Olsen and Yates, while Mayor Christine Fletcher abstained) it's hard to see any last-minute changes of mind. Particularly when 81 per cent of Aucklanders have expressed their support for the idea.
Finance committee chair Kay McKelvie says $10 million has already been set aside and a funding plan is being drawn up.
Some, but not all, of the additional money will be borrowed - and why not? That has long been the traditional way to share the cost of facilities to be enjoyed by more than one generation.
The private partner will finance the remainder of the cost; building, operating and being responsible for any deficits for the term of the deal - expected to be 30 years. Then, as was the case with the Civic Theatre, the asset would revert to the city.
The decision follows years of jostling between several Auckland councils for the right to host a purpose-built stadium.
Auckland City made the first move in 1998 when it spent $12 million to buy the Quay Park site near the old Central Railway Station for a new entertainment or convention centre.
This followed several inquiries from outside developers about building an indoor stadium on the Quay Park site, at the end of Princes Wharf, in Cook St and on the Mt Smart site now occupied by the ageing Supertop tent. To say nothing of Sir Barry Curtis' dream of a multi-purpose Manukau City stadium.
Eventually Auckland and Manukau cities and the regional council asked the Hillary Commission to judge their competing proposals.
They agreed to back the selected scheme.
Quay Park was the clear winner.
Commission chairman Sir Wilson Whineray declared it offered "an opportunity that very few cities have the chance of fulfilling. Auckland should take it."
Auckland, as in Greater Auckland, did not take it.
The ink was hardly dry on the report before Manukau and the regional council were soldiering on in support of their schemes.
They still are.
Auckland City decided to go it alone, calling, towards the end of last year, for expressions of interest from consortiums interested in building and operating their facility.
Three groups were shortlisted: Abigroup, Lendlease and Nationwide. All said a public investment of up to $50 million was needed to make the project viable.
Now that the city has committed itself to part-funding the project, the three short-listed groups can be asked for more detailed proposals.
With a bit of luck, it could be up and running by the inaugural Auckland Festival in 2003.
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