In this age of stratospheric house prices, rising living costs and the ethical imperative to buy more pricey milk, there’s not much that still costs $1.
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Half an avocado (in season), a Caramello Koala from the office fundraising box, maybe a pair of socks from Kmart.
And a community theatre on 1200 square metres of land about two kilometres from Wollongong’s city centre.
In a report to next week’s meeting, Wollongong City Council staff have recommended the Phoenix Theatre be allowed to buy the Coniston site it has occupied for the past decade for $1.
If councillors vote to approve the sale, it will not be the first time the Bridge Street building has changed hands for a gold coin.
It was sold by the council to community radio station VOX FM for $1 in 2006, then passed back to ratepayers for the same sum in 2014.
And before VOX took over, the theatre site was leased from the council by the region's first professional theatre company, Theatre South, for $1 a year.
Now, after two years of deliberations over what to do with the property since VOX sold it back, staff have advised councillors endorse a proposal from Phoenix to buy the site for $1 (plus GST) to provide a community performance space.
Director Steen said the council recommendation was “the best thing on the face of the planet”, as he said the theatre had been in limbo for years.
“If this goes through it will mean a change for us – even more new works, even more risk taking, more development and bringing more people in,” he said.
“I would mean we have security and we can do what we do without the dreadful weight of having to raise funds. Because the thing that sets the Phoenix Theare apart is that we are there to make art.”
Justifying the tiny sale price, Steen said the community group had spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on maintaining the building over the past decade. He also said the organisation would “add value” to the Illawarra by providing an open community space for theatre.
If councillors agree with staff, the council will have the first right of refusal to buy the Bridge Street theatre back from Phoenix for $1.