Sir Owen Glenn's donation to Sir Howard Morrison Performing Arts Centre celebrated

"This is the thing memories are made of."

There was plenty of emotion as Sir Owen Glenn shared memories of his late friend Sir Howard Morrison, and spoke about his contribution to his legacy, during a ceremony at Ohinemutu in Rotorua today.

The millionaire philanthropist, 77, said he was proud to be part of "any legacy we leave him".

Sir Owen is donating $3 million to the restoration of the Sir Howard Morrison Performing Arts Centre.

Sir Owen Glenn shared memories of his friend, Sir Howard Morrison, during the ceremony. PHOTO/ STEPHEN PARKER

The centre was closed in November after falling below earthquake safety standards.

Today's ceremony, to thank Sir Owen for his contribution, was attended by members of the Morrison whanau, members of the performing arts community, councillors, and other dignitaries.

Sir Owen described the ceremony as a "great honour".

Sir Howard "brought joy and happiness to so many people", he said.

"He was larger than life."

Sir Owen's only request for the opening night of the refurbished building was that Sir Howard's version of How Great Thou Art was played.

The Sir Howard Morrison Performing Arts Centre. PHOTO/ BEN FRASER

Speaking after the ceremony, he said his announcement had been met with "euphoria and joy".

"This is what I get the most satisfaction out of.

"In all the hubble and bubble of life, sometimes we miss the thing that really connects us all together, and that's people, history and heritage, love and compassion. That was epitomised throughout the ceremony today.

"He's watching today, this is exactly what he wanted."

Speaking at the ceremony, mayor Steve Chadwick said Sir Owen's donation had brought "joy" to the community.

"It's huge, it's significant to us, it gave us hope again that we'd get that centre going.

"When it's tough, that's when we get cracking here in Rotorua," she said.

"We will once again be the city of song."

During the ceremony, more details emerged about plans for the revamped centre.

Rotorua Lakes Council arts and culture manager Stewart Brown told attendees there were two possible concept designs for the project, which had been narrowed down from seven initial proposals.

They were expected to go back to the council in mid-March.

The project could cost up to $12m if one upper-end option including upgrading the concert chamber, foyer and banquet room, plus the required earthquake strengthening – was accepted.

There was also a possibility of upgrading the Civic Theatre to seat up to 1000 people.

"It's really exciting times for us," Brown said.

"We want it to be reflective of our place, Rotorua."

Rotorua had missed out on 19 shows in the past two years because it did not have the facilities to host them, he said.

The council wanted to "reconnect" with the performing arts community, and was recruiting a performing arts director, he said.

"We've been to Wellington rattling on doors for funding, it's looking really positive."

The Rotorua Energy Charitable Trust has also agreed in principle to contribute $1.5m.

All going well, construction was expected to begin in the last quarter of 2018, he said. The build was expected to take about one year.