AEC Theatre: The Empire State Building

Imagine if you were running a business and the Government set up a rival business with all the funding and resources it was ever likely to need down the road from yours. Well this is how the directors of Thebarton Theatre have viewed the construction of the Adelaide Entertainment Centre’s new $53 million Theatre venue. One of those directors has accused the State Government of “empire building” and unfairly competing with commercial enterprise.

    In an advertisement that appeared in Rip It Up last week, the directors of Weslo Holdings, which holds the long-term lease on Thebarton theatre, claimed the State Government promised the new ‘black box’ AEC Theatre would save 17 shows a year from bypassing Adelaide due to a lack of availability of a second 2,000-capacity venue. However Weslo Holdings Director Bob Lott refutes this statistic and says that “maybe one or two” shows a year miss Adelaide because there are no similar-sized venues available.

    “We knew that to be bullshit,” Mr Lott says. “We weren’t losing any shows in Adelaide because of a lack of a comparable sized venue. Now we’ve shown that every show that they’ve had and every show that they’ve advertised that they are going to have, could have played either Thebby Theatre or Festival Theatre. So every show they’re talking about would not have bypassed Adelaide for the lack of a suitable venue.”

    He also says this issue of necessity of a second 2,000-capacity venue was brought up in the planning stages of the AEC Theatre but “one very powerful government member forced it through.”

    “There was quite a fair bit of objection within the decision-making group about doing it because people could see no reason for it - they couldn’t see why there needed to be another venue. And particularly it was said, ‘Why do we need another venue when Thebby serves the purpose?’ They’re empire building. All kings and princes leave great monuments to themselves and that’s what we see this as.”

    Currently the AEC Theatre has seven shows booked between now and the end of March 2011 while Thebarton Theatre has more than 20. Mr Lott says his venue is still leading the market despite what he considers to be unfair competition from the AEC Theatre.

    “They don’t have to pay insurance like we have to because they’re a self-insurer, they don’t have to pay lease arrangements for the property like we have to, they have as much money as they need, when they need it to do repairs and maintenance and they don’t have to pay it back. And if they have an $8 million loss in a year, it just gets wiped. They don’t have to make a profit.”

    Entertainment Centre CEO Anthony Kirchner didn’t wish to be interviewed on this issue but said his complex “has no interest in competing with the Thebarton Theatre.”

    “Our only interest is in attracting as much contemporary live entertainment to Adelaide as possible for the benefit of South Australians. Ultimately, we are much more concerned about whether a band is coming to Adelaide than we are about what pub, hall, theatre, arena or stadium the band chooses to play.”

What are your impressions of the AEC Theatre? Is the State Government unfairly competing with Thebarton Theatre?

The advertisment taken out by Thebarton Theatre in last week's Rip It Up mag:

CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE TO OUR E-NEWSLETTER!