Kia Ora

Welcome to the first issue of our monthly newsletter providing information related to the construction of the new Waikato Regional Theatre. 

For obvious reasons, the last month has not gone to plan for any of us in the community and we feel for those of you experiencing disruption to your lives and businesses.

For the Theatre’s construction team, the lockdown has meant we’ve had to adjust our plans and concentrate on those aspects we can progress from our home offices, although Level 3 has now allowed us to advance some on-site preparations.

We are progressing well with all the construction management plans, with the Tree Protection plan submitted and approved by Council, the Traffic Management Plan drafted and in the final stages of submission to Council, and the remaining plans well developed.

The draft Traffic Management Plan is now available online.

The Environmental, Noise and Vibration Management Plans will be provided to neighbours shortly for their input.



Progress on Site

The only work to have been completed on-site so far was the removal of the three large trees on the riverside of the site in the second week of August, which was carried out following a blessing by mana whenua representatives Te Haa o Whenua o Kirikiriroa.

On-site investigations have re-commenced with the move to Level 3, as we collect more information to assist both the upcoming demolition and the redesign process.



Significant Events

There are no significant events or road closures planned in the next month, 6 September-5 October.



Should everything go to plan over the next month, we are expecting the site set-up and fencing to commence on Monday 11 October 2021, prior to the start of the demolition phase. 



The details are still to be confirmed with Hamilton City Council, however at this stage the site fencing will result in the following changes to the immediate area.

  • Closure of the footpath and left-lane adjacent to the site boundary within Sapper Moore-Jones Place, whilst maintaining segregation to the public right-of-way.

  • Closure of the Victoria St footpath and parking bays directly in front of the site.

  • Closure of Embassy Park.

Access to the lower riverside footpath at the bottom of Sapper Moore-Jones Place will be maintained.

We will provide an update of the detail and timing once the Traffic Management Plan is approved by Council.

The intention was to hold a Site Blessing Ceremony by mana whenua representatives Te Haa o Whenua o Kirikiriroa at the theatre site on Friday 20 August, but of course we went into lockdown three days beforehand, forcing the cancellation of that date. Due to the continuing restrictions, a re-scheduled ceremony is now likely to be quite small, brief and re-organised on short notice.

This was to be the smaller initial gathering ahead of a later full-scale ‘Sod Turning’ event when actual construction is due to commence, which will involve the Government and Council. This is still the plan, but the date-setting awaits a suitable Covid setting.



Overall Programme

The project is tracking to the programme below. 

  • Demolition                                                    October – 1st quarter 2022.

  • Earthworks and site infrastructure          1st quarter – mid-2022.

  • Main theatre building construction        Mid-2022 – 1st quarter 2024.

  • Final installations and testing                    1st quarter 2024.



About this Update…

These Waikato Regional Theatre Construction Updates are produced by Graeme Ward from RDT Pacific, the Theatre’s Overall Project Manager, assisted by Mark Servian from Momentum Waikato, their Communications and Marketing Manager.

These newsletter issues will be posted at the website waikatoregionaltheatre.co.nz – which for now is a dedicated web address for construction news and contacts, separate from Momentum Waikato’s theatre community and fundraising site sharethestage.co.nz.