A long-running show

In the second of our series backgrounding the performing arts centre debate, Geoff Collett looks at the long-running efforts of the Millennium Centre Trust to get the centre built.

Even the most implacable opponent of the Nelson performing arts centre dream would have to concede that Brian Rhoades is a man who sticks to his guns.

For someone who admits that he is not really that plugged into the performing arts scene, he has been unwavering in his conviction that the city needs to do better around its facilities for theatre, shows, concerts and community gatherings. "It's been obvious the whole time I've lived in Nelson, since 1985, that we were lacking in those facilities that every other centre had," he says.

Not that many people listened to him, until that day in early 1996 when the nearest thing Nelson had to such a venue, the Majestic Theatre in Trafalgar St, went up in flames.

The hole left by the demise of the old, tired, 1200-seat building was immediately obvious, and it wasn't long before Dr Rhoades' phone was ringing, with the region's two mayors at the time – Nelson's Philip Woollaston and Tasman's Kerry Marshall – suggesting they were ready to take him up on his offer to put some spadework into figuring out what would be required if the city was to finally get a purpose-built performance centre.

That we can skip from early 1996 to late 2009 and find Dr Rhoades sitting in a city cafe still talking about the gap in the community infrastructure defies belief – to his mind, at least. "I'm just astounded it's taken so long ... and I really can't understand why."

In mid-1998, a couple of years after he first scoped out his ideas, the Nelson and Tasman councils set up the Nelson Millennium Centre Trust to keep the project moving. Dr Rhoades was the logical choice for chairman, and was joined by a variety of other enthusiasts (accountant Bronwyn Monopoli, lawyer Brian Smythe, architect Maurice Tebbs, and musician and event organiser Pete Rainey, among others).

The trust's name was the clearest sign that the mayors had a vision of cutting the ribbon on a magnificent new building just in time for year 2000 celebrations. Today, after years of prevarication and procrastination, it might seem like an embarrassing reminder of wishful thinking, but Dr Rhoades' conviction remains undiminished, even if some of his optimism has been tested.

These days, Mrs Monopoli heads the trust. She recalls a meeting between trustees and the newly elected Tasman District Council a couple of years ago, when a new councillor was wanting to know what the trust had been up to for the previous 10 years. It was Mr Smythe who rose to the challenge, telling the councillor: "I think I'll describe it as a litany of lost opportunities."

Each of those opportunities comes with its own paper trail – a stack of feasibility studies, evaluation projects, reviews of feasibility studies, site assessments, economic impact reports and draft plans. As Mrs Monopoli puts it, there wouldn't be a large-scale site within central Nelson that has not been pored over, scrutinised and imagined as a possible location.

Dr Rhoades worked largely for love in producing the first pile of paperwork, coming up with the original feasibility study – which he says still contains all the answers to counter those who continue to question the need for a centre.

He maintains that his vision was "modest" rather than grandiose, although he was bold where he felt it was necessary – a 1420-seat auditorium with tiered seating; professional-standard backstage facilities, with a fly tower to accommodate equipment needed for lighting, scenery, props and the like; a second, much smaller theatre for rehearsals and small gatherings; and space for conferences capable of hosting up to 1000 people at a sit-down dinner. The cost was estimated at $20.4 million in 2001 money.

Dr Rhoades is also convinced that the public supports the project. What he and his fellow trustees perhaps didn't count on was a shifting and unpredictable political environment, starting at the end of 1998 when Mr Woollaston lost the Nelson mayoralty to Paul Matheson, while in Tasman, a bluff, straight-talking farmer, John Hurley, filled the vacancy left by Mr Marshall's retirement.

The trustees and subsequent consultants had firmly identified Millers Acre as the ideal site. Its central location, council ownership and various planning considerations made it perfect, but the new city council had other ideas. As Dr Rhoades recalls, shortly after the election "Paul Matheson said, `Go away for a year or two while we worry about other things – we're interested in this, we know it's important, but come back"'.

The trustees remained active, and when they were summoned again to produce some plans, "[the council] told us quite bluntly that Millers Acre was not a site that was available".

Instead, the trust was "directed" to Wakatu Square – still under development at the time and surrounded by some prime retail development land.

This led to probably the unhappiest hours in the trust's life. While it dutifully reworked its plans and calculations to make a theatre and conference centre work on the square, the council was negotiating to sell a large chunk of it to another developer.

Asked why they didn't give up at that point and take up more rewarding pursuits, both Dr Rhoades' and Mrs Monopoli's reply is simple: "Because we believe in the project."

"I don't know that anyone's been against us," Dr Rhoades says.

"We've had generally pretty good receptions from both councils when we've talked to them. I think people realise that we need this thing. It's really a case of, it's big and it's difficult and ... to many people, it's outside the scale of projects they've previously been involved with."

KEY EVENTS

January 1996:The Majestic Theatre burns down, depriving Nelson of its only large-scale theatre.
May 1998:The Nelson Millennium Centre Trust is established at the Nelson City Council and granted $15,000 by the two councils to pay for a feasibility study for a theatre project.
August 1998:The trust reveals plans for a centre at Millers Acre.
October 1998:Council elections and a change at the top at the Nelson City Council see the project put on hold.
March 2001:After being told by the council that Millers Acre is not available for development, the trust shifts its focus to Wakatu Square and the plan resurfaces in public.
February 2002: The trust reveals its feasibility study for a $20.4m building in Wakatu Square.
March 2002:The council sells a portion of Wakatu Square, scuttling the trust's idea.
October 2003:A new consultants' report is released, assessing 20 sites for a possible centre. The land between West Yates' offices in Trafalgar St and the Trafalgar Centre (dubbed ``the Maitai River precinct'') tops the list, followed by Millers Acre and Buxton Square.
April 2004:The council adopts Rutherford Park, alongside the Trafalgar Centre, as its preferred location.
October 2007: A performing arts centre becomes a major issue at the local body elections.
July 2008: The council announces that it has bought a site next to the Rutherford Hotel for the centre.
November 2009:The council seeks public views on whether to proceed with the project.
Go to nelsoncitycouncil.co.nz for more details

• The Nelson City Council has launched a formal public consultation programme to seek views on whether it should go ahead with its plans to build a theatre complex on land next to the Rutherford Hotel at an estimated cost of $32 million, with the hotel expected to build a complementary conference facility. The decision will be momentous not only for its price tag, but also for the political stakes and the influence it will have on the city's long-term development. To find out more about the consultation, go to nelsoncitycouncil.co.nz. The Nelson Mail welcomes readers' views and contributions to the debate. Write to the editor at mailbox@nelsonmail.co.nz.

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