By Jonathan Mbiriyamveka
A refurbishment of the Harare International Conference Centre which is housed at the Rainbow Towers Hotel is now long overdue.
The venue which hosted the prestigious National Arts Merit Awards is now posing serious logistical nightmares for showgoers.
As experienced at the weekend, the venue needs air conditioning and also thorough cleaning to kill the odour in the auditorium.
Sadly, most of the minimum required equipment for such a venue are now dysfunctional.
With a carrying capacity of 4500, the auditorium gets stuffy whenever it’s packed to the bream like what happened during the NAMA show.
This makes the venue uncomfortable considering we are still in the middle of Covid-19 pandemic.
That said, the seats are now tatty and uncomfortable with some armchairs not user friendly or at least sharp at the edges.
Observers said the auditorium also needs new armchairs fitted with USB sockets for those who want to connect or charge their mobile phones while attending the shows.
There is also need for stage lights that come with the package since most shows require state-of-the art lighting and sound.
A proper way is to install strobe lights and spotlights and not wait to hire these from service providers.
Half the time, the auditorium was dim lit after the stage lights were turned off for some obscure reason.
There is also great deal of work needed to fix the stage so that it can be spread around the golden square like what happened during the Miss Tourism International.
The entire golden square was filled by an electrical and HD ready stage to enhance the quality of productions especially those beamed live on television.
An investment in the stage would help in that regard even if the sound is sourced from service providers.
A smoking room could also assist those who smoke but restricted to the main HICC auditorium.
Yes, it is true there are not many venues for holding big events or concerts so there is pressure to use it over and again.
It is also true the same HICC can be well looked after and still remain in its pristine condition.
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