Spokesman Brenton Stacey said the new amphitheatre will be specifically designed to accommodate small production concerts and other entertainment formats including drama and opera.

"The interesting point here is that the new theatre is part of a $530,000 capital works program which started last year with funding provided by the Seventh-day Adventist Church which returned money Avondale paid as rent," Mr Stacey said.

"The agreement is not new, though. It began in July 2005 and neither is it applicable only to Avondale. The church in the South Pacific has a similar agreement with most of its entities."

Avondal has already used the returned rent facility to build a gym; refurbish its Enquiry and Enrolment Centre, Information Technology Services, Out of the Box Cafe and rooms in women's and men's residences Andre and Watson Halls. It has also constructed an awning in front of the Chan Shun Auditorium ($30,000), completed more stages of the Faculty of Business and Information Technology building refurbishment program, extended the gym by excavating under the cafeteria ($110,000), extended and refurbished the bathroom on the first floor of Andre Hall ($100,000), refurbished the sheds on the site of the former dairy to house maintenance services ($100,0000), refurbished an additional 15 rooms in Watson Hall ($60,000) and completed a new roof on the atrium ($20,000).