Red tape stalls essential work on hall

Press, 20 May 1987, Page 22

Red tape stalls essential work on hall

By

DIANA HALES

The future development of the Rangiora Town Hall has been forced to a halt because of ; legal hitches in setting up the Rangiora Theatre Trust. The Rangiora Town Hall, particularly the back stage, is in dire need of repairs and the provision of basic modern production equipment. Some productions and television shows have refused to work in the hall because of its state. The Rangiora District Council has been aware of the state of the hall for some time, and has had two reviews made of the building. The district clerk, Mr Frank Rapley, said the council was sympathetic towards improving the hall but considered it pointless for the council to spend money before the trust was formed. The idea of a theatre trust to administer the hall was first proposed in 1985, and the council were very much in favour of it, said Mr Campbell Botting, one of the founding trust members. Funds for projects in

the theatre would be raised through grants from the Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council, local residents and business people. The council would grant the trust the freehold of the theatre and land, and a small extra sum which was annually estimated for the Town Hall, he said; A trust member and solicitor, Mr Keith Hales, drew up a trust deed, based on the New Zealand Drama Trust document, and . presented it to the council on November 15, last year. The document has since gone to the Department of Internal Affairs and been reinspected by the Council. After more than six months trust members have not heard of the outcome. Mr Rapley. said the council had been cautious about the document because it had to provide protection against the trust legally selling the theatre or land. In the meantime, producers are struggling Io present shows in surroundings that everyone agrees are inadequate.

The producer-director of the North Canterbury Musical Society, Mrs Olwynne Spensley said, “I just think how much more professional our productions could be if we didn’t have to fight with the theatre every step of the way.” •• The two dressing rooms are barely large enough for an average cast of 55 people, they have no ventilation, the ’ concrete floors are bare and the clothes racks have to be borrowed from- a Rangiora business. There is one toilet backstage, which cannot be used during performances because it is located beside the audience and stage and makes tab

much noise. There are no showers. - ? A third backstage room is unfit for human habitation and can only be used to store props. The ceiling has collapsed in at least one place. There are two sets of stairs leading from the dressing rooms to the stage. One set is borerridden and was badly damaged recently when someone put a foot through the staircase. It is now being replaced by the council. The other set of stairs cannot be used during a performance because of noise. . The stage dips and sways alarmingly during dance sequences with more than four adults. The society recently

had to hire and pay for a heater to heat the theatre before public performances. The present heaters are. inefficient and so noisy they cannot be used dur-' ing a performance. - The heaters and lights ~ auditorium, foyer, stage and backstage ■ — cannot be used simultaneously because it places too much strain on the backstage powerboard. , ■ Mr Botting acts as mechanist for the council but also is lighting manager for the musical society. He described’the electrical switchboard. as a nightmare. Last year he spent $5OO on electrical equipment but even so lighting in the orchestra pit has to be/

wired through to the stage because the five electrical outlets in the pit have not been repaired since they ceased to operate several years ago. . - There : iii^'no. r counterweight pulley system for raising and lowering backdrops and props. : In 1985, after someone 'nearly fell from the catwalk, the council replaced the catwalk and grid. Last year the society struggled for several months to get the council to replace ropes discovered to be mouldy. Recently new ropes were bought. • The council paid for one third of the cost of the ropes and Civil Defence paid the rest, said Mrs Spensley.

Tf we had a pertbrmenergeaey we’d tare to dose our show down to ss.-'Stod'wtaSsr A Council rwiew of the theatre , researched . in 1984 described the backstage area as adequate but with potential for Improvement Mr keith Lucas, the seivicing engineer for the council who oversees the maintenance of. the theatre, estimated the council had spent about $8696 during the last two years upgrading and repairing parts of the theatre but said: “There’s a hell of a lot of work needed to be done.”