This is the review of the Theatre project for the financial year July 2022 to June 2023, from the Momentum Waikato Annual Report 2023 - see full report in PDF.
During late 2022 and early 2023 the construction of the Waikato Regional Theatre was largely hidden from public view behind the supported façade of the old Hamilton Hotel, although there was still much for project supporters to see and do away from the site.
Waikato Regional Theatre site from the south-west, December 2023. Photo: Foster Group Ltd.
Foster Group started the main earthworks for the building’s foundations in June 2022, following the demolition process that had begun the previous year. Piles and retaining walls were installed as digging progressed over the following months, creating a large and wide space well below street level. When then-Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern made her third site visit in November 2022, she was looking down at a large sand pit and the beginnings of the steel latticework for the concrete to come.
The site’s two tower cranes were put up over December and January and the basement floors were then laid from March through to June. From that point on construction has largely been a process of alternating steel assembly and concrete pouring as the Theatre has risen up out of the ground.
Meanwhile, Momentum Waikato’s Share the Stage fundraising campaign had been fully underway. Over the winter of 2022 promotional functions were held with business groups including the Waikato Chambers of Commerce and the Hamilton Central Business Association.
A well-attended Share the Stage Quiz Night for the performing arts community happened at The Meteor in July 2022. It included the presentation of Creative Waikato’s new Performing Arts Strategy, which is centred on the new Theatre.
In October a celebratory Share the Stage Showcase featuring local artists took place at Clarence Street Theatre. In December a mural telling the history of the Theatre’s site was added to its perimeter fence.
Fundraising and marketing efforts during 2023 saw several medium-sized firms join the ‘Business Collective Support’ scheme, and hundreds of seats in the auditorium sponsored by individuals, families and groups donating via the ‘Take a Seat’ promotion.
The significant new donations received over this period were from law firm Tompkins Wake, Genesis Energy and philanthropists John and Sarah Oliver.
As Share the Stage media partner, the Waikato Times published a number of Theatre-related stories in 2023, including why local people had ‘taken a seat’, a profile of an opera singer working on site for Fosters, and a look ahead to the CBD’s reinvigorated night economy.
The Waikato Regional Property Trust, which will own the Theatre, was meanwhile progressing the set-up of its operating company. The key milestone was Gus Sharp starting as the Theatre’s inaugural General Manager, pictured below, in February 2023.
Gus Sharp, inaugural General Manager of the Waikato Regional Theatre.
By the end of 2023 the Theatre’s structural framework was finally visible behind the old Hotel’s façade, the Share the Stage campaign was continuing, and Gus’ work setting up the operating company was well advanced.