Transcript

(Please note this has been automatically generated by AI from the audio file, so there are likely to be inaccuracies)

Stephen Doran 0:05  
Kia ora and welcome to the Timaru District Councilcast.

Last time we spoke to our museum director how he's planning to fill the new museum. This week we're talking to Nicole Timney, who's charged with building both the museum and bringing the Theatre Royal up to modern standards. There's been a lot of work happening off stage since the plan was first signed off years ago. But the next year is going to be an exciting one as we see that work coming to fruition. It's an exciting time in the project now, Nicole?

Nicole Timney 0:26  
It is, it is, look and as everybody knows, we had that full public consultation before Christmas, and a lot of feedback from the public to go ahead with the option that we are now working with. We've been away we've had some conversations with Southbase who are preferred contractors, and we're in contract now. And they're busy putting together a developed design and moving into detailed design. So develop design means now taking flat floorplan and turning it into a 2d and then turning into a 3d design model ironing out all of the comments that are coming from the public things that people wanted to see in the theatre items that people wanted to see in the museum, how we look at the front entrance ways. And so the the actual overall design has really coalesced into this lovely building now.

We're ready to hit the ground with some early works packages about October. And we're hoping to do a lot of the civil works. And so that means digging up putting the drains where all the layers where the drains will go, where some of the fibre will come in, where the electricity will come into the site and preparing some earthworks and actually some demolition of the back of the Criterion Hotel. That puts us in preparation for real construction, which starts in February next year. And then it's all go for a full year. And when we get to the end of next year, then we're starting to really look at the internal fitouts.

Stephen Doran 1:59  
This level of iterative design, is the normal process with a sort of building?

Nicole Timney  2:03  
It's a normal process for design and construction, if you want to put everything in one pot and have your construction firm do the design and actually helped save some money. But also we are dealing with a very old building in regards to the theatre, and we're building a new building next door and we are punching through the walls, basically, into the theatre to connect these two together. So there is a lot of code joining of an old building with a new building that has got layers of complexity to it. A lot of cost involved at that point.

The theatre Royal is a listed great two listed historic building. So there's a lot of fabric there that we can't touch. And then working obviously with Historic Places Trust, etc,  as we start to do that work on the theatre. Theatre is very exciting, because it's a whole new back end in regards to changing facilities and for visiting theatre groups as well as all of our local theatre teams. And we will then be keeping the stage as it is but a whole new fly system going in modern fly system with lighting and sound. But the auditorium which is particularly special, will be kept will be refreshed, repainted. We've got new seats going in, new heating going in, line of sights and things to the stage, all of that has been thought through. The comfort, the experience, the sound, and the lighting. And when you sit in those seats that you will come along to the show. And we can't guarantee every single seat because there's always going to be some seats on the periphery, but you're gonna have a really, really wonderful experience.

When you're on the stage and you're part of a cast, you're going to have accessible changing facilities, there are going to be lifts that move everybody through all the rooms at the back. Three floors of changing rooms, and what we call green rooms and spaces and showers, so we can host all of those local shows, children and adults with with everybody there behind the scenes.

So the complexity of the build is it's really interesting, it has caused a lot of headache. But actually the topography of the ground area has been the biggest headache. And a lot of work has gone on in designing this building, which does have two layers to it, the new building and the theatre Royal and Conjoining all of those back end of of systems and coming in through the docking area and trying to keep everything all on one level. So

Stephen Doran 4:33  
Because you're not aiming for two buildings are you?

Nicole Timney  4:36  
No, no, this is this is one building in essence, though it has within it the theatre or it has a new museum. And it has a really exciting new education space and to the museum but used for lots of other groups. We have a new what we call an international standard, temporary gallery space for art, Museum use, visiting shows that may come from to Te Papa or Christchurch museum or Dunedin art gallery, really, really exciting. And then a big new atrium area where we could host shows and events. And it actually gives some real kind of movement through this building for lots of different types of events and festivals and things to happen. It's it's quite exciting. Actually,

Stephen Doran 5:27  
Because was a quite a design challenge, not taking off the front of the Theatre Royal to merge, what are two sites into one, especially when you had the bluestone frontage of the Criterion?

Nicole Timney  5:37  
Yes, we had a lot of discussion about it with elected members, who were still keen to see the identity of the theatre there because it has a huge history. But they also wanted to have something new, and obviously working with Heritage New Zealand for the front of the Criterion Hotel, and keeping that in essence and bringing it back to its original state. So the architects worked quite hard in regards to how do you take these three elements and conjoin them all together. So that actually enable the design on the front, it has sunshine that will hit it and creates a lot of sparkles and shows, but it sits alongside of the Theatre Royal, but then crosses over the front and the top end of the criterion. So everybody's seen the designs that if you haven't, get onto our website, go take a look. But that took some time to think about how we join, but leave the essence of the two older buildings there and then bring the new into the middle.

Stephen Doran 6:32  
What sort of impact do you think you'll have on that area of Stafford Street?

Nicole Timney 6:36  
I think a really big impact this, and this was the purpose. This was the reason why previous elected members, and this has been a journey since 2014 but has ended up with an amazing result. Absolutely, we'll make a big change to, I don't know if you want to call it lower Stafford street or the high end of Stafford Street. It's an interesting one, I call it lower. But certainly the private sector will respond. And we want the private sector to we want the private sector to look at the buildings and the things that are sitting around this big new complex, a civic building as it were, because this is what it is housing, our history and our life and our and our society's artefacts and photographs, history of the area, but also the history that sits with the theatre. And then all the new things that can now happen as we take this into a modern world and we look to the future, that future will develop around this new building, it will come in the buildings private sector will know how to bring the public to that area and we want them to actually put their hats on, get down there and think about what they can do to add to this new building, which will be there and a year and a half's time, two years,

Stephen Doran 7:55  
The museum itself is relatively straightforward build but the theatre itself is a different beast entirely. What was it like going into that building reasonably fresh and working out A: how you can save it and B was worth saving in the first place?

Nicole Timney 8:07  
So a lot of work went into the Theatre Royal building. We've got a lot of members of the community who are very passionate about that building, it is greade two listed literally from front to back. It has got an amazing history. Even at the back of the stage when you walked in or when I walked into that building, it is still as near to the plans that were drawn by the original architect who was quite an eminent architect for theatres in this country in in the early 1900s. And that building still felt, you felt like you'd actually walked onto a stage in New York or even in London's West End those really old theatres. Those that know the backstage, those that have actually been involved in actually putting on productions there and have been up into the fly towers, there are names of cast members in the shows all the way back to Les Miserables goes back to the 1960s, all these different shows. But actually also downstairs underneath the stage, in some areas, there's actually names of cast crews all along the walls down underneath there, a huge history that we want to try and capture and keep. But that came with some complexity was that building going to stand the test of time for the next 50-70 years? 100 years? So we took bricks away from inside the walls in various areas around the building. We had them all pressure tested, how much moisture is there? How would they stand up in an earthquake? How would they what do we have to do? What's the maturity left in these buildings? How old are they? It's all worked out really well. That meant that we could save all of those brick walls and that and that building and that gave us the assurance that this building could be redeveloped and it could be brought back to life and will be. From there then how it would cope with having slices of walls cut out to then put a brand new building on the side, the brand new building on the side was the easy bit.

Stephen Doran 10:04  
Dial forward a year and a half, 2025. What's your audience going to feel walking into this building, what they're going to experience what the facility is going to be like?

Nicole Timney 10:15  
Well, they're going to walk around the corner on the street. First of all, they're going to see it, they're going to see the frontage. And the way that we've looked at this sort of fluted and dimpled front is to actually the sun strikes the front of that building in the mornings and during the day. And that design is to allow an experience of sun dancing across the front of the building. And we want you to walk around the corner and look and go, wow, what's there, what's happening, what what's going on there and been drawn towards that building. In the evenings, we have the opportunity to shine lights across it. And when we've got shows and banners that come down, so first of all that experience is when you walk around the corner, and you head towards that building. It's about a modern feel, it's about what you see when you go to a lot of other centres around the world. And you can do it right here in Timaru. Timaru has always punched above its weight in these things, and this building will allow that international and national feel to come into there. You will go upstairs and enter this brand new modern museum, you will be able to go into the theatre with a new seat comfortable, warm, visit a show and have the ballet back. I would love to see the places full of laughter again, and and song. The school groups come, kapa haka comes back. These are all these things that are going to happen. And you're going to feel and see and do in this new building.

Stephen Doran 11:45  
So for someone bringing a show to the new theatre, what will they get?

Nicole Timney  11:49  
If they are bringing a show? Well, they're going to have a modern fly system that has got all the bells and whistles and safe to use, stairs that go up there, the ability to put their own light displays in there a crew in the back, that will be able to set up the live show set up the sound shows, run the whole back of house for them, work with brand new changing facilities with and some of them was literally ensuite, toilet and shower, you'll be able to have these mixed groups upstairs a green room, which is where the cast and others go. And the crew that support the shows those that are actually running the show, back of house, the technicians etc, they've got their own room, whilst the show is going on somewhere quiet, we've got an area off the side of the stage that allows for groups to actually wait or the actors and those that are going on stage to actually be and then another separate area, which comes straight off our tracking Amdocs. So there's silence and we get that real quiet zone that happens around the stage when there's a show on, we get the ability for warmup areas. So when you've got a show going on, and it's an operatic or or the ballet comes, they need to warm up, they need to be in full dress, they need to practice their lines they need to go away. So we've got areas in the building now that are tagged to this to allow these cast members to actually go away and do all of this. And then come in. There'll be connectivity with screens, sophisticated radio systems connecting the cast and the crew. So that everybody gets their cue to come down to the stage, go on, go off. And the whole thing can be choreographed in in a very modern way.

Stephen Doran  12:25  
Cool. So it's going to be an exciting year and a half?

Nicole Timney 13:38  
very exciting year and a half. And when when we get to February 2025. The museum team get to actually move into this space upstairs, they get to set up their cases, they get to bring their artefacts and they get to be able to create and design that new modern facility, and we will be putting all the finishing touches into the theatre. So the curtains start to go up. And the side curtains and the new, very fresh, new beautiful red plush curtains go on the front. The boxes are redone. And already the seats polished off. And literally we're looking at July of 2025. And obviously it's got to be a soft opening. But then I like to think there's going to be some galleries and there's going to be some shows and there's going to be some local shows, and we're open for business.

Stephen Doran 14:27  
So you're dusting off the Oscars dress for that night?

Nicole Timney  14:30  
I think we actually all need over a space of quite a few weeks I'm sure to be having some gala evenings and to turn up in your best tucker and dress and and enjoy some really lovely shows and that will be great to see some of our local groups come and put some of the shows as the opening curtain to this this whole new complex and especially the theatre.

Stephen Doran 14:56  
Thank you Nicole.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai