Hawke's Bay Opera House - Theatre Closed

4 March 2014 - Media Release

The iconic Hawke’s Bay Opera House Theatre Building has been closed following engineering advice received late last week that the building is earthquake prone.

The indicative verbal advice of the lower earthquake rating has been received from engineers in advance of the finalised testing and reports which are due on the 21st March.

Hastings Mayor Lawrence Yule says “A 2013 report on the earthquake strength of the Opera House Theatre provided assurances over building safety but advised that further work be done. Council has taken the prudent approach of commissioning further investigation. This work involved invasive testing of the structure and foundations, and the indicative verbal advice that we have now received is that the theatre is earthquake prone.”

“Council is surprised by this advice, given the earthquake strengthening we commissioned as part of the upgrade in 2004. However we need to act on the new information that we now have,” Lawrence Yule says.

Hawke’s Bay Opera House Board Chairman Chris O’Reilly says ”The board and Council have taken the prudent option of closing the theatre until mid-May, to allow further investigation work on the strength of the building to be undertaken. Safety of theatre goers, staff and performers is paramount and the Board was united in opting for closure.”

“Staff are currently working through options with the theatre hirers and some concerts have already been booked into alternative venues. The EIT graduation ceremony has been transferred to the Napier Municipal Theatre as has the Sol3Mio concert. Anyone who has purchased tickets to events booked into the Opera House theatre are advised to contact Ticketek to gain a refund or rebook at alternative venues.”

“The five businesses that operate from the building (Opera Kitchen, Ticketek, Dish Catering, HB Winegrowers and Hutchinson Furnishers) will continue to operate. They have been advised of this development and we will continue to work with them to ensure the least disruption occurs to their operation.”

Any updates relating to this matter will be updated in the News section of our Hawke's Bay Opera House Website and on our Facebook Page.

Please refer to our website for individual show updates.

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