Opera House denies it's broke

Sydney Opera House. Photo / Mark Mitchell

The Sydney Opera House is fighting reports that it is about to close for good because of a financial crisis.

A statement on its website said no threat of closure faced the harbourside icon's six internal performance venues, which attract more than a million people a year.

The 36-year-old Opera House is one of Australia's most recognisable symbols and is listed as a Unesco World Heritage site, with other global icons such as the Great Wall of China, the Egyptian pyramids, the Taj Mahal and Stonehenge.

Reports of its looming demise flashed around the world after the Daily Telegraph cited internal reports warning that the financial crisis was so severe that performers' lives were at risk from old stage machinery.

The newspaper quoted an unnamed source as saying years of abuse and government inaction meant that if "something radical" was not done the Opera House would have to close.

The Telegraph said chief executive Richard Evans had confirmed it might have to close permanently if the state and federal governments did not provide A$800 million ($955 million) to replace stage machinery.

A Boston Consulting Group report quoted by the newspaper said if the status quo was not changed the Opera House would be under funding pressure, and that structural funding issues meant by the 2011 financial year it would not be able to maintain present levels of activity.

A leaked engineering report by Marshall Day Entertech and TheatrePlan LLP further said old stage machinery urgently needed replacing because of "significant problems in respect of its operations, its reliability and its control functions".

"There is a real risk to persons on stage or being carried on the flying system, from a malfunction or fault with this installation and a similar, although lesser, potential risk when people are carried on the transport elevator," the Telegraph quoted the report as saying.

It said there could be multiple deaths and that the theatre's "flying system [was] non-compliant with current international codes and practice".

The fault log indicated far more incidents and disruption than could be expected.

The Boston Consulting Group report was quoted as saying the Opera House needed to look for ways to save money and to try to get more out of governments. There was too much middle management, and measures such as redundancies and higher seat prices should be considered, the Telegraph reported.

In its statement denying the Telegraph's report, the Opera House said its annual A$30 million plant and equipment maintenance programme was widely acknowledged as one of the best in the world.

"There is no financial crisis impeding Sydney Opera House's normal operations," the statement said.

"Occupational health and safety is a priority, and performer safety is paramount.

"Consistent risk assessment and mitigation in accordance with best practice is exercised throughout Sydney Opera House, and all risks associated with on-stage activity are closely monitored in order to provide a safe working environment for all performers and technicians."