In early 2022, the owners of the Playhouse Theatre, the Athenaeum building and the Mayfair Theatre met to compare notes on the common challenges of owning and operating ageing performing arts buildings and trying to refurbish them to ensure their continued viability.

We quickly realised that, put together as a package, our buildings offer an appealing mix of sizes, styles and locations – a mix appropriate for the size and creativity of Dunedin. We agreed to explore the idea of partnering with Council and other funders to refurbish our venues as a network.

We prepared a Stage 1 Report (May 2022) that outlined our basic concept thinking. We developed this further into a Stage 2 report (May 2023) which also reported on our consultation with the community. We completed a Stage 3 report (November 2024), with financial support from Dunedin City Council, which provided costed concept designs for the three venues. All reports - and the supporting professional advice - is available on this website under Resources.

We trust these documents will be of value to the City Council and the community as the city moves towards decisions about the city's performing arts infrastructure.