SPENDING on refurbishment of the Princess Theatre has been pre-approved by the Launceston City Council to the tune of $970,000.
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In February it was revealed that the 104-year-old Princess Theatre was under consideration for major refurbishment, however, owing to upcoming budget deliberations no certainty could be provided to the managers, Theatre North, nor other community groups, as to when the works may be carried out.
Council sought to pre-approve the capital works for its 2015-16 budget because of the long lead time required to get the new seating and regular approval would have been too late to fit in with available Theatre North dates.
Works are to be carried out from November 2015 to March 2016.
The major works would include the replacement of the seating in the main auditorium at $334,000, floor $165,000, dress circle seating replacement $148,000 and sub-floor waterproofing and auditorium wall repairs $90,000.
The council has allocated a margin of $80,000 for contingency spending.
Alderman Robin McKendrick said he was concerned talking about pre-budget approval and contingency figures, and that different levels of government had previously been a good place to push that.
"Contingency worries me, most of the time whenever I've got quotes for things I do, they're firm quotes and if they don't meet that firm quote, then that's their problem, not mine," Alderman McKendrick said.
He said he hoped future works would address the sound system.
According to the council's report, the main auditorium flooring is original and, due to power utility work in Earl Street, ongoing water ingress had impacted on the floor substructure.
The seating also dated back to the 1940s and there were regular complaints about it.
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