Proposed new 1400-seat theatre for Parramatta puts future of Riverside Theatres in doubt

PARRAMATTA Council is in discussions to build a new 1400-seat venue on the city-side of the river, casting doubt over the Riverside Theatre’s future.

Show could be over for Riverside Theatre

THERE are grave fears for the future of Parramatta’s Riverside Theatre after the council it revealed was in discussions with an international theatre group for a new 1400-seat venue.

The Ambassador Theatre Group, with venues on Broadway and London’s West End, is behind a move to build a world-class venue at Parramatta on the old David Jones carpark site, off Wilde Ave.

The new venue would supersede the old theatre, which only seats about 700 people. A council spokeswoman said a formal proposal had not yet been put to council.

The new theatre could be built on the carpark between Wilde Avenue and Church Street.

However, the spokeswoman said Parramatta deserved a world class theatre that could accommodate major first-run musicals, stage productions and concerts by local and international artists.

There are concerns that the Riverside Theatres could be knocked down and the prime riverfront site sold to help fund the new theatre.

The council spokeswoman said the council was working towards new state-of-the-art cultural facilities including a redeveloped Riverside Theatres. There is no funding set aside for any upgrade.

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Parramatta State Liberal MP Geoff Lee said he was happy for council to consider anything that would deliver a bigger theatre for Parramatta.

“We need a 1500 seat theatre in Parramatta, especially close to the riverside.”

“I support recycling of capital to deliver better assets and it would cost $100 million to double the capacity of the current Riverside Theatres,” Mr Lee said.

Western Sydney Director of the Sydney Business Chamber David Borger said a new theatre to accommodate large musicals would be fantastic for western Sydney but insisted Parramatta needed to keep Riverside as well.

David Borger wants Riverside retained.

Geoff Lee is keen for any new development.

“We could have both theatres doing different things and we need to use some of the funding from the poles and wires to upgrade Riverside, which is one of the busiest theatres around with about 1000 performances a year.”

He said a larger commercial-scale theatre would have musicals booked in long term and may not cater for the wide variety of groups using Riverside.

ATG Asia-Pacific chief executive Tim McFarlane was overseas and could not be contacted in time for deadline.

The new theatre would sit alongside Meriton’s Altitude Apartments where nearly 600 apartments will be built.

Last year Parramatta Council engaged designers to come up with an artist’s impression of what a redeveloped Riverside Theatre would look like. Picture: Supplied.

The development, on the former David Jones site, includes an “East” tower at 30-storeys with 242 serviced apartments, a “West” tower at 53-storeys and 354 residential apartments, a 3-storey podium including eight commercial tenancies.

The council website says the development would include lively outdoor dining and cafes along the riverfront and Meriton’s new Riverside Shopping Centre as part of the complex at a cost of about $150 million.

According to State Government figures, for each six month period of a first run musical, approximately $20 million in new money is injected into the NSW economy, attracting about 7,000 overseas visitors and 26,000 interstate visitors.

ATG is the largest theatre group in the world with 40 venues in the UK and is slated to build the flagship $70 million lyric theatre at the Barangaroo Central project on Sydney Harbour.

An ATG co-production of The Rock Horror Show is touring Australia, with other productions in the pipeline.