Wellington indoor arena could be shafted for $85m venues upgrade

Wellington's Opera House. Photo / Andy Spain Photography

The bill to upgrade Wellington's key venues could be as much as $85 million, with early estimates suggesting the Opera House would soak up about half of that cost.

Meanwhile, the St James Theatre earthquake strengthening budget has blown again- bringing the project's total cost to what could be more than $40 million.

Just $17 million was originally allocated for the project.

A new report into the city's venues, obtained by the Herald, reveals The Opera House, Shed 6, the TSB Arena, and the Michael Fowler Centre have all suffered from underinvestment and are not fit for purpose.

The report went as far as recommending the Opera House be sold or redeveloped, but there's little political appetite for that.

The level of interest in selling the Opera House is akin to building a new 12,000 seat indoor arena in the city.

Back in 2018, Wellington City Council set aside $85.7 million of capital expenditure for the arena in its Long Term Plan, which is about to come up for review again.

A lot has changed since then, including the realisation of how big the investment needs to be in three waters infrastructure, constantly emerging resilience issues, and the Let's Get Wellington Moving transport plan.

Now councillors have the city's creative infrastructure to add to the list.

The arena is not a priority amid these mounting cost pressures for several councillors spoken to by the Herald and is seen as a nice to have.

A proposal to build an indoor arena in Wellington is dead in the water. Image / Supplied

It's understood Wellington NZ, the region's economic development agency, is keen for councillors to redirect the full amount of funding set aside for the indoor arena to upgrade the key venues the report identified as being in trouble.

The amount needed to earthquake-strengthen and refurbish the Opera House alone could cost in the ballpark of $40 million, council sources have confirmed.

But putting an exact cost on earthquake strengthening is a difficult exercise.

Work on the St James Theatre has already doubled in cost in a budget blowout, bringing the total amount of money signed off on for the project to about $33 million in 2018.

An update in recently released council documents said construction was tracking to schedule, but the financial forecast was above budget.

Theatre service design was behind schedule, and while that wasn't considered critical, the delay was a risk to price certainty, the documents said.

The final bill could be more like $40 million, council sources have confirmed.

Wellington NZ events and experiences general manager Warrick Dent told the Herald a reprioritisation of funding in the council's Long Term Plan for other venue upgrades is something the agency would support.

"But that decision lies, as it should, with the elected officials at Wellington City Council. That would need to occur, either fully or in part, before decisions were made on the level of expenditure to upgrade any particular venue."

Arts, Culture and Events portfolio leader councillor Nicola Young said she was concerned about incoming rates increases, but noted that venues counted as important infrastructure.

"If we want to be the city that's the cultural capital home of the arts then we've got to have venues."

Wellington City councillor Nicola Young. Photo / Mark Mitchell

She said the indoor arena was "clearly not a goer".

"Let's be like the royal family and make sure we look after what we've got before buying new toys."

Council-Controlled Organisations Subcommittee chair Jenny Condie said there has been an underinvestment in infrastructure across all areas of council.

"So there's really no reason to expect why the venues would have been any different.

"Creative infrastructure is essential to our creative sector and our economy. For too long the creative sector has been seen as a nice to have."

Condie said the creative sector was important for driving economic growth and repurposing the indoor arena money to upgrade the venues made sense.

"When you look at all of the other spending pressures and infrastructure investment we have to do, I would certainly rather prioritise upgrading our current infrastructure over building shiny new things."

But economic development portfolio holder councillor Diane Calvert cautioned that "everything is up in the air" in terms of the Long Term Plan.

Councillor Diane Calvert. Photo / Mark Mitchell

She agreed venues was another story of assets not being maintained, along with water pipes.

"Where we've got assets, whether they're creative or under the road where no one sees, we have to make sure we are investing prudently in them for the future."

Calvert was keen to take a broader look at venues across the city, including suburban venues, rather than just those run by Wellington NZ.

It's understood the Wellington Museum, for example, will also need north of $40 million for earthquake strengthening and upgrades.

Grants Subcommittee chair Fleur Fitzsimons said the cost of venues needed to be addressed if Wellington was to retain its title as the creative capital.

"Many community, arts and sports groups struggle to afford the cost of our venues and are forced to seek grants from the council for the cost. It's not an efficient use of their time and it doesn't maximise the usage of our venues."

The mayor's office has been approached for comment.