JERSEY Opera House should open as soon as possible, without waiting for technical upgrades, ministers have urged.
Jersey Opera House Ltd, the company slated to run the building following its £12.7m restoration, this week said it needed to raise another £1.5m to ensure that the venue could operate as a fully-equipped theatre.
“Without these upgrades, we have a beautiful building, but the type of productions it can stage is severely limited, affecting local productions and reducing the scale and quality of events we can both present and bring to the Island,” the company said in a statement.
The JEP reported last week that negotiations between the government and Jersey Opera House Ltd over the lease for the building were “at a stand-off”.
In this week’s States sitting, Chief Minister Lyndon Farnham and Infrastructure Minister Andy Jehan claimed the technical upgrades were not essential.
Mr Jehan said: “I understand that shows could take place today on the stage, but I understand the aspirations for enhanced systems for lighting and for staging, which weren’t part of the project that was given to [Jersey] Property Holdings.”
Deputy Farnham added: “I do not agree that the Opera House cannot open without some extra technology. It can open. And they should get themselves open. There’s a big investment, and they should start putting shows on.”
Deputy Montfort Tadier asked the Chief Minister whether the Island’s reputation would be damaged “when we refurbish an Opera House to the tune of £12 million, but we find that the Opera House can’t open because basic technical spend which we, as a scrutiny panel, advised the department of almost a year ago is not spent and is not up to date”.
Deputy Farnham denied that Jersey’s reputation would suffer, adding that the Opera House was “a building that we can all be proud of”.
He said: “There’s been a significant, almost £13m, investment, and undoubtedly this will serve the Island and Islanders well for many, many years.
“Yes, it has been identified that improvements can be made to the technology, but it can certainly open sooner rather than later. I would urge the board to get it open and start being in a position where Islanders can enjoy it.”
He added that he was “pleased” to see a fundraising campaign launched, and that the government would assist “where possible”. This would happen after the theatre opened, he said, and technology would be improved “in the months and years ahead”.
Despite the company claiming that it could not open the building before it was upgraded, Economic Development Minister Kirsten Morel said he hoped it could open ahead of the scheduled October date.
The venue should not stay closed “as a fait accompli” on the basis of not having this technology, Deputy Farnham told politicians, adding: “Get the theatre up and running and we’ll do whatever we can to get the extra technology in.”
