The future of the St James Theatre - once one of Auckland's premier venues but now sliding into decay - will be highlighted today as the Government weighs up national convention centre bids.
Auckland City Council's The Edge is one of five contenders for the proposed centre, which could cost between $200 million and $500 million.
Under The Edge's plan, the St James would become the main venue for theatre, opera and ballet instead of the Aotea Centre, which would be incorporated into a new convention and exhibition centre.
Today, the Herald opens a campaign to save the St James, which has been closed since a fire in 2007 and is listed by the Historic Places Trust as category one.
Built in 1928, the ornate Spanish colonial-style building was once considered so beautiful that the man who commissioned it, Sir Benjamin Fuller, pronounced it "the theatre perfect".
Theatrical immortals Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh trod the boards there, and successive generations of Aucklanders knew it as a cinema and a music venue.
Documentary maker Richard Hodges, a long-time admirer, is making a film about the theatre.
"I was in town recently and I just happened to wander past. It was all boarded up. There was a jewellery guy [selling] on the side. I went out the back and all the marble steps had been chipped and the foyer on Lorne St has become a sort of toilet and it's really horrid. It just struck a chord with me - how the mighty have fallen."
Much of what made the St James so stunning is hidden behind a facade which SPCA executive director Bob Kerridge's father, Sir Robert, put up in the 1950s, designed specifically for a visit by the Queen.
The family once ran the Kerridge Odeon theatre circuit, which at its peak owned 133 cinemas, the largest chain in Australia and New Zealand.
Mr Kerridge calls the false front "horrible". He is responsible for gaining heritage status for the St James in 1988, and started the lobby group St James Saviours last year.
"My father didn't make many mistakes, but he did on that occasion, because he wanted to modernise the theatre so he put up a false front. I don't think the Queen would have noticed it, really. Behind that horrible front exists that lovely facade. We're hopeful it'll be restored."
He supports The Edge's plan.
"Aucklanders are longing to see that theatre come back to life again. It is certainly a very compatible marriage. I'm absolutely in support of it because it's a mechanism by which the theatre can be saved."
Mr Kerridge said there was something wrong with the heritage laws if a protected building could lapse into a state of disrepair.
Owner Paul Doole has previously indicated the property could be for sale.
The Government valuation is about $11 million.
Mr Doole has permission to build a 39-storey apartment complex on the site but, because of the venue's status, he must leave the St James standing and build around it.
He could not be reached yesterday.
No comments:
Post a Comment