Final curtain call for the St James Theatre?
Built in 1928, the St James Theatre was designed by architect Henry Eli White as a replacement for the Fuller’s Opera House.
Back in 2015, concert-goers and lovers of the theatre, both old and young, were relieved to hear that the promised restoration of the historic St James Theatre on Queen Street in Auckland was underway.
The project, a 40-storey residential tower designed by architect Paul Brown, with a 3000m² retail precinct and 195 car park spaces sitting above and alongside the theatre, first emerged onto the drawing board in 2003. Since then, the plans have had plenty of changes and several owners along the way.
But now, without major intervention, the curtain may fall at the iconic venue for the last time. That is unless Green Party MP for Auckland Central, Chlöe Swarbrick, succeeds in pressuring goverment to take swift action. In this video, Swarbrick takes us on a tour of St James Theatre to show the extent of recent damage.
Anyone wanting to help can sign an open letter calling on the government to come to the party and restore St James to its former glory, for all to enjoy.
And for some background on the development plans and history of the theatre, this trailer for the documentary The Show Goes On from 2015 is illuminating.
