The Waikato Regional Theatre seen at sunset from the KPMG Building in late May 2025.
Kia Ora from the Theatre Manager
The progress is not as obvious from the outside as it was previously, but things are moving fast on the Theatre build.
While it’s still too early to announce opening events, the internal fit-out is rapidly preparing its spaces to host them, including the installation of cutting-edge audio-visual technology and staging mechanisms. There are around 250 workers in and around the building each day, roughly twice the number that were there during the steel-and-concrete phase.
Every week therefore brings us closer to a fully operational venue – it is a huge piece of work, and we’re proud to be creating something this ambitious for the city and the wider region.
We’ve recently been back in touch with many of our ‘Take a Seat’ donors to confirm their words for the plaques that will convey their support on the backs of seats in the Auditorium. It has been a pleasure to hear why people have backed this project – from personal dedications to life-long connections to the arts, your support has been a critical element of bringing this Theatre to life, so we thank you all wholeheartedly.
Once construction is complete, the Waikato Regional Theatre will be operated by Live Nation, who will be responsible for its day-to-day programming and management. Until then, we’re focused on finishing the build and making sure everything is ready for a seamless handover and activation.
Thanks again to everyone who’s supported the project so far — we’re nearly there.
The dream is becoming a reality
This is the review of the Waikato Regional Theatre project from the Momentum Waikato Annual Report 2024.
ABOVE: The Waikato Regional Theatre site in December 2024. PHOTO: Foster Group.
This was the year the Waikato Regional Theatre blossomed into full public view.
At the beginning of 2024, two-and-a-half years after work had begun, construction had reached street-level and a few walls and pillars were just starting to poke out around and above the Hamilton Hotel façade.
A year later, the full form of the whole Theatre complex is now there to see. The walls stand several stories into the air, the giant box of the fly tower defines the South End skyline, and the century-old heritage façade is no longer held up by giant rust-brown props, with its restoration now underway.
Inside, huge windows face the river from the foyer, the balconies are in place in the auditorium, the tall gap between that giant hall and the commercial spaces behind the Hotel façade is now a glass-roofed atrium, and the internal fit-out is in full swing. The completion of the build is now just months away.
Waikato Times: Regional theatre to get new $1.3 million grant from city council
By Stephen Ward, Friday 30 May 2025.
An illustration of the future Waikato Regional Theatre's interior. The seating on the bottom floor is the area due to be removable.
Another $1.3 million in direct Hamilton City Council development support is to be put into the new regional theatre to help install removable seating.
The council says the cash will come from unused money already earmarked for the theatre yet councillors were split 8-4 on the decision in a public excluded part of this week’s council meeting.
It follows a statement from the theatre’s general manager last year that the chances of the city council having to pay more for the theatre’s construction were “very slim” but “never say never”.
The money will go to the Waikato Regional Property Trust so it can install removable seating on the theatre’s ground floor, increasing its community use and revenue options.
Waikato Times: City puts $70k into opening party for ‘best theatre in the country’
By Madeleine Powers, Saturday 24 May 2025.
Waikato Regional Theatre manager Gus Sharp in front of the theatre in earlier stages of construction. PHOTO: Mark Taylor / WAIKATO TIMES.
City leaders have rolled out the financial red carpet for ‘the best theatre in the country’.
The Waikato Regional Property Trust has been granted $70,000 from Hamilton City Council to celebrate the opening of what’s promising to be ‘a very big story for the city’ on the national stage.
As the final layers are peeled off and the full face of the $80 million Waikato Regional Theatre comes into view, it’s time to start planning the party.
Councillors approved the $70,000 in financial sponsorship at this week’s economic development committee meeting and while general manager destinations, Sean Murray, said it was “a little bit out of the ordinary”, it would deliver “substantial profile”.
Waikato Times: Face off - Full frontage of regional theatre revealed as façade scaffolding comes down
By Mike Mather, Saturday 17 May 2025.
The Sapper Moore-Jones statue appears to size up the newly-revealed frontage of the old Hamilton Hotel - now the façade for the Waikato Regional Theatre. PHOTO: Christel Yardley / WAIKATO TIMES.
It’s been under wraps for a while, but the full “face” of the $80 million Waikato Regional Theatre can now be seen on Victoria St.
The last of the scaffolding shielding the old Hamilton Hotel façade facing Hamilton’s main street was taken down on Friday.
Passers-by now have an almost unfettered view of the newly-restored 102-year-old architecture.
Momentum Waikato communications and marketing manager Mark Servian said the scaffolding removal was a small but significant step in the saga of the theatre’s manifestation.
“I have lived in Hamilton since the mid-1980s, and Victoria St now looks better than at any time I have seen it in the last 40 years.”
The façade restoration team employed a “crack injection” process to help stabilise the masonry while also intentionally retaining flaws that had crept in over the years since the hotel was originally built in 1923.