Plans for a joint convention centre-movie museum for Wellington that was expected to provide a major boost for the local economy are over.
Sir Peter Jackson’s The Movie Museum Limited company and Wellington City Council have decided to continue with the projects separately.
“We tried our very best to make this work,” Wellington Mayor Justin Lester told 1 NEWS when asked if on reflection, he would have changed negotiations for the project in any way.
“When it came down to it, to final negotiation, the location, the timing, the economics around the project - we couldn't make that work,” he said.
The joint project was announced in late 2015 with a site on Cable Street, opposite Te Papa Museum, purchased by the council for $21.5 million in March 2016.
A year later, in 2017, construction still hadn’t started and it was clear estimates of a 2018 completion would not be realised.
Last December, disagreements between TMML’s Sir Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, Sir Richard Taylor and Tania Rodger and the council became clear, casting doubt over the project’s future.
"WCC seem intent on reneging on many of the terms already agreed in the November 2015 signed contract," the company stated in a letter to the council, The Dominion Post reported.
"This is the principal cause of ongoing delays, and it feels that WCC are attempting to sabotage the project.
"We hope this is not the case and common sense can be allowed to return to process," it stated in the letter.
Mayor Justin Lester said he sensed the project was becoming “too difficult” a few months ago and by the end of June, the council decided it was time to make a call on the project partnership continuing.
“We’ve worked through the options and we’ve decided now, in mid-August, that we’re going to part ways and that’s the best course of action,” he said.
“We remain committed to the creation of a Movie Museum in Wellington and will now be considering other options
Sir Peter Jackson’s company said in a statement it was struggling with the costs of the project.
“We remain committed to the creation of a Movie Museum in Wellington and will now be considering other options,” it said.
Mr Lester said the council had questioned if the joint project’s ambition would be realised and whether it was too risky.
“The best course of action and to give it certainty is to now focus on the convention centre and the exhibition space - we’ll partner with Te Papa and we know that that’s a reality we can move ahead with,” he said.
Te Papa is in talks with the council about co-running management of the planned exhibition space, which will now be created in the space that the movie museum was planned for.
Construction is set to begin next year, a spokesperson for the council said, with the build expected to take three years to complete.
Designing the build, getting resource consent and council decision making could impact this timeline, the spokesperson said.
He said the convention centre is likely to be completely taxpayer funded, at a cost of less than $180 million, the final budget for the project when the movie museum was still part of it.
The budget for the revised project is yet to be confirmed.
Ratepayer money has already covered the land purchase, plus design, legal and initial consent work to the tune of $23 million.
“We can’t fully accommodate those one thousand-plus delegate opportunities
Wellington Regional Economic Development Agency chief executive Lance Walker said he’s delighted the project can now move forward, with the capital currently missing out on $30 million per year as the estimated economic benefit of the proposed convention centre.
“Currently we are missing out on some of those big opportunities where we can’t fully accommodate those one thousand-plus delegate opportunities,” he said.
Mr Walker said he hoped the proposed exhibition space would allow the capital to secure more high-profile exhibitions like the Terracotta Warriors, which will be on show at Te Papa from mid-December.
He said WREDA will work with The Movie Museum Limited on how the museum’s future can be developed.
Wellington Chamber of Commerce chief executive John Milford said it was now time for the council to hurry up with construction of the convention centre.
“The good thing is we can now press the button on the conference facilities,” he said.
“Let’s get them done, let’s be competitive.”
He said Auckland and Christchurch’s convention centre construction meant Wellington was now at a disadvantage.
Mr Milford said the Wellington business community have had frustrations the project has been delayed but it was important to remember the deal was a complicated business negotiation.
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