For Canberra Theatre Centre, a venue which trades on "mass gatherings", the coronavirus shutdown has been a catastrophe few could have scripted.
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The centre was forced to shut its doors to patrons on March 18, with shows and other events cancelled for the foreseeable future.
"We have gone from welcoming thousands and thousands of people a week to not being able to welcome anybody," the centre's director, Alex Budd, said on Thursday.
"The [economic impact] is hundreds of thousands of dollars a month in impact. The Canberra Theatre Centre very proudly raises a great majority of its revenue through ticket sales.
"So when we closed the doors we can't sell tickets and that is hundreds of thousands of dollars."
But in the midst of the financial carnage and uncertainty about what the future might bring, Mr Budd said the theatre had found a silver lining to the dark cloud.
The forced closure has given management time to attend to what Mr Budd described as the "second most contentious issue among patrons" - the quality of the centre's bathrooms.
The ACT government has brought forward funding for bathroom and security upgrades at the centre, as part of its ongoing efforts to maintain activity in the local construction sector amid the coronavirus-induced downturn.
Close to 30 workers across six firms have been contracted to deliver the project.
Mr Budd said the upgrades would complement - rather than by made redundant by - a long-awaited redevelopment of the wider theatre precinct.
The government has commissioned a business case for the redevelopment, with funding for the project expected to be considered as part of the next ACT budget. The budget won't be handed down until later this year, possibly early next year, because of disruptions caused by the pandemic.
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Mr Budd said the redevelopment could play a significant part in supporting the ACT economy as it entered the post-coronavirus recovery.
On Thursday, Chief Minister Andrew Barr also announced accelerated funding for upgrades to the cafe at the National Arboretum, a full internal paint job at the National Convention Centre, an office fit out for the ACT Integrity Commission and an "election results display system" for the ACT Electoral Commission with a combined cost of $1.97 million.
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Dan Jervis-Bardy
Dan covers federal politics from Parliament House, with a special focus on climate policy and the NDIS. He has previously reported on ACT politics and urban affairs since joining the Canberra Times in 2018.
Dan covers federal politics from Parliament House, with a special focus on climate policy and the NDIS. He has previously reported on ACT politics and urban affairs since joining the Canberra Times in 2018.
