Council Splashes Out on Stunning New Theatre.

David Spicer reports on the opening of The Concourse in Chatswood on Sydney’s North Shore.

Spending tens of millions of dollars on new cultural facilities is often controversial for a local council. But the Willoughby City Council has managed to avoid the political bunfights, after spending $171 million on one of the most ambitious projects ever attempted at a Local Government level in Australia.

Before The Concourse was built, the community had a 400-seat theatre with limited staging facilities, a flat staged hall for concerts and a library, all built around the 1970’s. When it came time for an upgrade the Council decided to send in the bulldozers and start from scratch.

Nick Tobin is the current General Manager and has worked on the project for over a decade.

“We could have upgraded the old facilities, but it would not have given us the opportunity to create any new open space,” he said.

The Concourse is now an impressive sandstone and glass building around a new town square, with a reflective pool. It comprises a 5000 square metre library on one level, a 1000 seat concert hall with superb acoustics for classical, jazz and pop music and a 500 seat theatre for professional touring and amateur theatre. There is also an art gallery space and outdoor film screen.

A unique feature is the balconies, designed to look like the petals of the Waratah flower or branches of the eucalyptus tree, drawing in light.

The Concourse has drawn in the crowds. In the first few weeks, 4000 people have flocked to the library each day and the first productions by community groups sold out or went very close.

The difference for performers and the audience is immense. The old theatre (Bailey Hall), was cramped, stocked with plastic chairs and had a manual fly tower (used to lift scenery).

The new theatre has 42 fly lines, an orchestra pit, plush seats on two levels, and a large back-stage with multiple rehearsal spaces.

Raising the cash was not easy. The Council sold off assets, raised rates in its CBD by ten percent and granted a 99-year lease to a property developer to build a hotel on the site. It was still left with a $55 million debt that will take 40 years to pay off.

Yet the community appears to be on side.

“We did a poll about eight years ago and 65% of the community voted in favour of the facility,” said the General Manager.

Having successfully built the facility, the council then decided not to run it, engaging a private company, Century Venues, to manage the entertainment and venues. Mr Tobin says while Local Councils might be efficient at running Town Halls, they don’t always have the entrepreneurial skills to manage a performing arts centre.

Greg Khouryfrom Century Venues says his experience is that good venue managers work to help artists flourish, while poor ones turn into property managers or legal compliance officers.

“Century will work with local community artists and groups, schools and the performing arts sector to operate the facility as more than just a hall for hire,” he said.

“Part of our role will be that of a producer, guiding the venue to develop its own product. This could result in the creation of Sydney Fringe Festival or Sydney Comedy Festival hubs for The Concourse,” he said.

Mr Khoury says The Concourse is now second only to the Opera House in Sydney as a multi-purpose performing arts venue.

“Traditionally new theatres are built on the periphery of town centres, with people coming in only for a ticketed event. This is an integrated people precinct with unique synergies,” he said.

The Concourse is now competing for international acts. In 2012 headline acts include a recital by Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and The Vienna Boys Choir.

At the same time it is the home to the Willoughby Theatre Company (WTC) and Chatswood Musical Society.

I sat in the audience for the opening of The Boy From Oz, staged by the WTC, amidst a row of very proud life members of the company.

Backstage there were smiles too, but also relief.

Breaking in the venue was an ‘exciting’ experience for WTC as the fly tower system, being used for the first time, was ‘temperamental’ during the bump in.

The company which installed the system, Jands, burned the midnight oil to get it fixed.

“There are always teething problems… which are now ironed out,” said Mr Khoury.

“It is wonderful Willoughby in a real sense wanting to take the next step, wanting to grow, by coming into a major professional space,” he said.

Those plastic chairs and poor sightlines of the old Bailey Hall are now just a distant memory.

Originally published in the November / December 2011 print edition of Stage Whispers.