LAWRENCE GULLERY
It has cost $500,000 and will take three weeks to install but the smiles are already on architect Roger Shand's face as he watches the new retractable roof on the Hawke's Bay Opera House plaza be put in place.
The steel trusses which arc over the plaza were erected on
Tuesday and later glass borders will be installed onto the trusses.
The roof sail, made out of Ferrari fabric, will also be set in place soon which forms the retractable roof.
When the plaza roof is completed it will mark the end of three years of upgrades to the opera house, which have cost a grand total of $12.65m; $3.825m from community fundraising efforts; $2.5m from a Department of Internal Affairs grant and $6.325m was raised from a loan.
"The trusses have gone in well, and it's a tribute to the people who had built them (Patton Engineering)," Mr Shand, who is also the project manager, said.
"In fact it's been a pleasure to work with all of the people of this project," he said.
Mr Shand and his Wellington firm, Shand Shelton, has been working on the opera house upgrade for about three years. The firm specialises in theatre projects but Mr Shand said the opera house upgrade was special.
"It is unique because we have two heritage buildings here and then we have this plaza area which is now a superb building," he said.
Hawke's Bay's sunny weather meant it was the perfect location for the plaza with its retractable roof "When you have the roof over it will be a room the public can enjoy, alternatively, the roof can be opened and able to be used for silver service events, or al fresco, it's going to be a flexible space" he said.
Mr Shand is from Wellington but on Tuesday was eyeing the sunny Bay weather while finishing work on the plaza roof project, wondering if a move away from the capital to Hastings was on the cards. "Yes I am from Wellington, but I don't know for how much longer," he said.
An open day will be held on November 17, for the public to view the opera house upgrades.
