A damaging theft has left Auckland’s St James Theatre at risk of becoming a dangerous building, with mushrooms growing inside and the ceiling falling down.
The 93-year-old theatre was impacted by vandalism and theft on July 20, said Steve Bielby, from St James Holdings.
But what was initially thought to be minor damage was later discovered to be a major job. The culprits stole guttering and lead flashings from the roof, as well as electrical wires from the historic theatre.
“It was a sophisticated job. They isolated the 11,000 volt high-voltage mains,” Bielby said.
READ MORE:
* Auckland’s St James Theatre vandalised, bronze statue stolen
* Saving St James: Auckland’s dilapidated theatre waiting on cue for its next act
* Auckland MP urges Government to help revive dilapidated St James Theatre
The job has left the theatre with a waterfall inside when it rains and at risk of becoming a dangerous building, he said.
“The water and the power are big issues, which puts it on the trajectory of a dangerous building.”
YouTube/Supplied
Mushrooms growing on the floor of Auckland’s St James Theatre, several weeks after a damaging theft.
St James was damaged by a fire in a neighbouring building in 2007. It reopened for a short time in 2015 before faulty electrics caused another fire which damaged the stalls.
Bielby said because it was derelict, the theatre was not insured.
It has remained largely abandoned since it lost funding for restoration in 2015.
But Green Party MP for Auckland Central, Chlöe Swarbrick, said the building could be restored if the Government committed $15 million to the project.
YouTube/Supplied
Part of St James Theatre’s dome is now collapsing due to water damage.
This would match Auckland Council’s promised $15 million, as well as funding from the owners.
The building had been mothballed while its future was decided but the latest damage meant it had to be fixed “now or never”, Swarbrick said.
Once the restoration for the building’s exterior was done, a decision could be made about how the building would be used.
Swarbrick said the theatre could fill a gap as a medium-to-large sized venue.
St James Theatre was built in 1928, and once hosted shows and concerts including the musical Cats, musician Nick Cave, and Jane Campion’s Piano.
St James Theatre is a category one heritage building.
Auckland’s St James Theatre at risk of becoming dangerous building & Latest News Update
Auckland’s St James Theatre at risk of becoming dangerous building & More Live News
All this news that I have made and shared for you people, you will like it very much and in it we keep bringing topics for you people like every time so that you keep getting news information like trending topics and you It is our goal to be able to get
all kinds of news without going through us so that we can reach you the latest and best news for free so that you can move ahead further by getting the information of that news together with you. Later on, we will continue
to give information about more today world news update types of latest news through posts on our website so that you always keep moving forward in that news and whatever kind of information will be there, it will definitely be conveyed to you people.
Auckland’s St James Theatre at risk of becoming dangerous building & More News Today
All this news that I have brought up to you or will be the most different and best news that you people are not going to get anywhere, along with the information Trending News, Breaking News, Health News, Science News, Sports News, Entertainment News, Technology News, Business News, World News of this made available to all of you so that you are always connected with the news, stay ahead in the matter and keep getting today news all types of news for free till today so that you can get the news by getting it. Always take two steps forward
Credit Goes To News Website – This Original Content Owner News Website . This Is Not My Content So If You Want To Read Original Content You Can Follow Below Links