Auckland's most precious historic building Queen St.'s ornate vintage St. James Theatre could now get the chance to open once again, after being closed for three years.

The Edge is planning to use St. James Theatre to get consent of building an international convention and exhibition centre for 5000 people.

To use St. James into its wider plans for public buildings in the area and to use 1928 Historic Places Trust-ranked theatre, The Edge has represented a proposal in front Ministry of Economic Development.

The Edge has described the importance of the theatre for its bid. The Spokesman of The Edge has said, "A refurbished St James would be a performing arts venue. The acoustics are great, it has an intimate feel despite having
1300 seats and the arts companies would be more likely to play to full houses".

The new national conventions centre would also incorporate the ASB Theatre in the Aotea Centre, which could be used for the productions of performing arts, but that would no longer be its chief role.

Paul Doole, who is the apartment developer and real estate investor, owns St. James. He said that he would not mind selling the building.