Media Release: Hamilton City Council, 22 June 2016
FINAL FEW DAYS FOR FOUNDERS THEATRE SUBMISSIONS
There is less than a week to have a say on the future of Hamilton’s Founders Theatre.
In February, Hamilton City Council closed the 54-year-old theatre due to health and safety concerns related to its flying system and seismic strength.
The Council has called for public feedback on three options for the future of the theatre – refurbishment of the existing facility, construction of a new theatre for the city, or demolition of the existing theatre. An extensive engagement document outlining the issues with the theatre and the three options can be viewed at hamilton.govt.nz/founders
Sean Murray, Executive Director of H3 (the Council’s event facilities group) says residents and groups who want to make a formal submission on the future of Founders need to do so in coming days.
“We launched our public consultation on 6 May, and we’ve been really pleased by the level of interest from our community and stakeholders,” Mr Murray says.
“We’ve had more than 1700 submissions so far, and that’s really encouraging – it shows people are interested in the future of Founders, and that they want to have their say.”
The formal consultation period closes at midnight on Thursday 30 June.
“We’re into the final phase of our consultation period, and we reaching out to the community one last time to ensure anyone who hasn’t made a submission yet is aware that time is now of the essence,” Mr Murray says.
People or organisations making submissions on the future of the theatre can request on their submission form to speak to Council at a special Hearings Day on Thursday, 7 July and Friday, 8 July.
Once the submission period closes, the submissions will be collated and analysed by staff, and a report will be presented to the Mayor and Councillors on 28 July outlining the feedback received and with recommendations for the Councillors to consider.