I’m excited about the opening of the new Waikato Regional Theatre, though I confess much of the publicity about the opening and upcoming events has largely passed me by. What I’m more excited about is the idea that such a significant legacy project is about to be realised in the Waikato.
This is a transformational investment in the Hamilton central city. Along with other developments in recent years, this could be the key that unlocks a vibrant new era for the ‘south end’ downtown precinct.
Read the original Waikato Business News column here.
Projects like this are not easy to get across the line, particularly when the investment of public money is required, so I take my hat off to all of those who’ve been involved in making the Theatre happen. We, the general public, are chronically short-sighted in our consideration of the costs and benefits of legacy projects.
Famously, many Parisians were opposed to the construction of the now iconic Eiffel Tower:
“We have come, writers, painters, sculptors, architects, passionate enthusiasts of the hitherto untouched beauty of Paris, to protest with all our strength, all our indignation, in the name of the unknown French taste, in the name of art and of French history threatened, against the erection, in the heart of our capital, of the useless and monstrous Eiffel Tower…”
- Protest Against the Tower of Monsieur Eiffel’
February 14, 1878
Yet it now attracts nearly 7 million visitors per year and is valued at around 500 Billion USD for its brand, tourism and economic impact.
I also recall a great deal of fuss was made of the mere $1M that Waipā District Council invested in the velodrome in Cambridge, alongside a still modest $6M from Waikato Regional Council. I don’t imagine it’s the kind of thing that our current government would consider ‘core-business’ for a council, yet it has created great public value and therefore good return on investment for Cambridge.
The velodrome is well-used by locals and community groups, as well as high-performance sports and athletes. Together with Lake Karapiro and the likes of St Peter’s School, it has attracted a significant number of elite and aspiring athletes and their families, and created jobs for support staff and aligned businesses. This has gone a long way towards balancing Cambridge’s aging demographic, and increased demand for housing.
I suggest there is a great opportunity for students at another of our institutions, the University of Waikato, to study the economic impact of legacy projects such as the Waikato Regional Theatre and Grassroots Trust Velodrome.
Given the value generated for local businesses and communities from legacy projects such as these, it is incredibly frustrating that new government procurement rules essentially prohibit any publicly-funded projects from being entered in industry awards.
Whatever happened to celebrating aspiration and excellence?
