THE UNHOLY ROW CHRISTCHURCH CATHEDRAL
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+ Issues
The
Unholy
Row
Over
C h r i stC h urc h
cathedral
Two years after an earthquake devastated
the city which shares its name, ChristChurch
Cathedral still languishes behind security
fencing. Amanda Cropp investigates the
rancorous politics behind the wire.
amanda cropp is a north & south contributing writer. photograph by guy frederick.
This aerial photograph shows ChristChurch Victoria Matthews after her appointment as
A
Cathedral on February 20, 2012, nearly a year bishop in 2008. Her hiring marked a departure
after the 6.3 quake. for the church: her four male predecessors
lone pigeon struts along a aftershocks, and in the nave he says the Christchurch has a reputation for unholy being the seat of a bishop).
had all previously served as deans of
steel gantry beside the gaping bottoms of the tall Oamaru stone columns Marty Melville/AFP/Getty Images
rows over heritage buildings but the debate Rawstron repeats a common refrain when ChristChurch Cathedral, whereas Matthews
hole in the cathedral’s west have rounded off as a result of their rock’n’ over ChristChurch Cathedral has polarised he says the current bishop fails to understand arrived from Canada.
wall. Inside his mates are rolling. the city like no other civic battle in recent the building’s symbolic importance. “It’s Martin Hunter
probably pooping over the In the visitor centre, smelly black water memory. more than a church to Christchurch, it’s our
organ, the broken pulpit and the intricate-
ly carved kauri screen behind the high altar.
laps at door handles in the basement and
around the corner, in an area where Oliver
The once- When the Red Zone cordon was lifted for
eight days following deconsecration of the
McDonald’s golden arches, it’s our [city
council] logo… it’s what Christchurch is
Thanks to hastily thrown drop-cloths, the is not prepared to take me, someone has soaring bell cathedral, 140,000 people ventured into the known for throughout the world. It’s like possible death threat, but the Advertising
effigy of the city’s first bishop, Henry spray-painted offensive comments about tower is little square to view the battered building. Some, taking down the Sydney Harbour Bridge or Standards Authority rejected complaints
Harper, is unsullied by bird droppings, but
with other precious cathedral artefacts lying
the church. The once-soaring bell tower is
little more than a stump following demoli-
more than a like former cathedral chorister Brent Raw-
stron, want it restored. Some would prefer
the Auckland Sky Tower. It’s like saying we’ll
take down the Eiffel Tower because it’s got
about it.)
Even though the cathedral decision is
unprotected and irretrievable, a significant tion last year and the mangled cross that stump following it was left as a ruin, or rebuilt with a mix of a bit rusty and we don’t like it anymore.” strictly a matter for the local diocese, the
reduction in the $5 million contents insur-
ance payment is a distinct possibility.
topped the spire lies in state in a black-lined
display case at the Quake City museum
demolition old and new elements. Others say raze it
and build a modern cathedral that reflects
Canterbury University associate professor
in art history Ian Lochhead, an expert on
Archbishop of Canterbury and the Queen
have been inundated with letters pleading
Strengthening work is credited with pre- exhibit in the Re:Start container mall. last year. the new city. Many are just fed up with the early New Zealand architecture, goes even for them to intervene.
venting wholesale collapse of the building. Neatly packaged for tourists, the accom- endless wrangling. further. “In terms of Pakeha culture, this is Retired bishop of Christchurch David
The ridge line of the roof looks straight as panying blurb neglects to mention the bitter Bishop Victoria Matthews, recruited from the greatest heritage loss ever in the coun- Coles, now a parish priest in Central Otago,
a gun barrel and, from a distance, the east- battle over the future of the city landmark Canada two and a half years before the Febru- try’s history.” was also lobbied but refuses to publicly take
ern end housing the chancel appears in because, a museum staffer tells me, the picture ary quake, wants an inspiring new cathedral For almost 40 years, the Wizard of Christ sides. “My regular response is to say that
reasonable nick. However, during a close-up keeps changing. that “speaks to the past but looks to a future”. church held forth in Cathedral Square from I’m a bit like Manuel in Fawlty Towers: ‘I
tour of the exterior with a church engineer, Legal action by the Great Christchurch The cathedral was the centrepiece of a a ladder stored in the cathedral porch. He was know nothing, I come from Barcelona.’”
the commentary is far from positive. Buildings Trust has halted Anglican Church colonial settlement with its roots firmly in so incensed by church plans he cast a spell to So how did it come to this? Eight months
Stuart Oliver, technical director for Holmes plans to deconstruct the cathedral to the Church of England tradition, and Christ save the building, and publicly declared in a after suffering serious damage in the Febru-
Consulting Group, points out cracks wide window-sill level. An appeal over one aspect church was recognised as a city only when newspaper advertisement that the bishop was ary quake, the cathedral was classed as a
enough to admit a hand. Orange plastic “tell of the interim judgement is to be heard on Bishop Harper turned up with the letters cracked and should be demolished forthwith. dangerous building by the Canterbury Earth-
tales” tacked to stonework chart the “old April 18, and another two potential litigants patent to say so (at the time, city status was (Much to his annoyance, an overexcited TV quake Recovery Authority (CERA), which
girl’s” desperate dance through thousands of are in the wings (see box on page 122). determined either by population or by reporter interpreted the proclamation as a ordered that it be demolished “to the extent
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Danita Delimont / Getty Images
standing committee of the diocesan synod.
When the Anglican Church announced
its deconstruction plans on March 1, 2012,
it emphasised the high costs and the unac-
ceptable risks of restoration in a press
release that made no fewer than 11 refer-
ences to safety, injury risk, and the cathedral
being a dangerous building.
With most of the cathedral still standing,
Mark Belton just didn’t buy it. He phoned
guy frederick
around engineers and heritage experts to
get their take on prospects for fixing the
cathedral and, without exception, they said
“Working-class hero” Jim Anderton and
it was possible. “There was this credibility former National cabinet minister Philip
gap and that’s what fired me.” on the Historic Places Trust national register. was established to prevent the unnecessary Burdon have formed an unlikely alliance
Although an “unbeliever”, Belton attended Belton scored a PR coup when he and GNS destruction of quake-damaged heritage to fight the cathedral’s demolition.
Laurie Noble/Getty Images
evensong at the cathedral three times a week Science’s chief seismic engineer Andrew buildings such as the cathedral. Guy Frederick
to hear his second-generation chorister grand- King circulated a petition among members Mindful of being accused of elitism for
son sing. “I loved the theatre and the history.” of the New Zealand Society of Earthquake focusing on just one well-known building,
He took five weeks off from his job as Engineering attending a conference in the trust is also developing affordable hous- Catholic. “Someone said, ‘We can’t look like
director of a carbon-trading company to Christchurch. More than 100 engineers ing and cost-effective ways of remediating the blue-rinse brigade from Fendalton, we
kickstart the Restore ChristChurch Cath- signed a statement saying it was technically quake-damaged residential land. need some working-class heroes as well,’ so
Above and top right: The cathedral in its edral group and since then has put in well feasible for the cathedral to be safely restored Burdon, a former National cabinet minister they called me and I agreed to go.”
former glory.
necessary to remove the hazards”. over 700 hours’ unpaid to lobby the Anglican to meet all earthquake code requirements. and co-founder of Meadow Mushrooms, is a For Anderton, it’s been quite an eye-
Faced with the threat of CERA taking over Church, the Christchurch City Council, and Belton and King (acting in a private capac- member of the order of canon-almoners, an opener working with a group of powerful
the demolition work and charging a project politicians. A campaign rally drew 4000 ity) took that petition to a meeting with honorary title bestowed on citizens of “good people prepared to dig deep for the cause.
management fee if it didn’t get a move on, people. Another 4000-plus signed a petition Earthquake Minister Gerry Brownlee. Bel- standing” who have made substantial financial The GCBT has spent $100,000 on legal fees,
the church considered three options: maxi- calling for restoration – among them well- ton suggested splitting restoration costs donations to ChristChurch Cathedral. He sees half of which Burdon has covered person-
mum retention, controlled demolition to sill known Cantabrians such as rich-lister between the church, the city council and Bishop Victoria Matthews as well-meaning ally, and he says he will consider giving $1
level (between two and three metres), and Humphrey Rolleston, fashion designer the government with each of those groups but misguided. “In no way is she a charlatan; million in seed funding to restore the cathe-
an in-between scheme deconstructing the Barbara Lee, entrepreneur Mike Pero, writer stumping up $15 million, covering the bal- she believes in what she’s doing, but it’s a very dral. Other GCBT trustees are retired Christ
nave but saving the largely intact eastern end. Margaret Mahy, broadcaster Mike Yardley, ance with public fund-raising – a solution one-dimensional and intolerant perspective church City Missioner David Morrell,
The decision-making process involved four and business-man Richard Ballantyne of that, so far, has gone nowhere. on which she is not prepared to compromise fundraising consultant and former Cathedral
church bodies: the cathedral project group, Ballantynes department store. About the time Belton’s group was estab- in any shape or form.” Canon Graham Brady, businessman Mike
set up to review options for the cathedral; the Descendants of the city’s English founders lished, an unlikely alliance of former politi- Left-winger Anderton stood unsuccess- Norris, and Peter Graham, a retired lawyer
cathedral chapter, which administers the lent their support, as did many others with cal foes Jim Anderton and Philip Burdon fully against Christchurch mayor Bob Park- and writer.
cathedral; the Church Property Trustees, legal an abiding affection for the category-one agreed to co-chair the newly formed Great er in the last local government elections after Graham first approached the church prop-
owners of all diocesan buildings; and the building, which is rated 46th of 5600 sites Christchurch Buildings Trust (GCBT), which retiring from Parliament, and is a Roman erty trustees last May with an 11-point plan
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to help the diocese restore the cathedral “as
far as is practically possible”.
The GCBT did not seek an exact replica tramping holiday many years earlier.
and accepted alterations might be needed Her appointment in 2008 was a
for engineering and safety reasons. Major major departure from recent practice:
engineering and construction companies she was a foreigner and her four male
were willing to help, Graham said, and the predecessors had all served as deans
trust was prepared to bring in overseas of ChristChurch Cathedral. Those
experts, organise project management, fund responsible for her appointment didn’t
raise, and source insurance cover. actually meet her face to face until she
The bishop thanked the trust for its offer arrived to take up her new job – like all
and said the church was working with other nominees for bishop, she submitted
architects Warren and Mahoney on plans for a video interview to the electoral synod.
a new building. According to an article in the Anglican
Angered at this rebuff, Graham responded Journal, the diocese was looking for a
with a missive later described by the church leader who could help heal longstanding
bayly & moore
trustees as “unhelpfully aggressive”. The letter divisions along theological lines and
said the church’s “extraordinarily high- on social and political issues.
handed attitude” would “never be forgotten Matthews says she was warned
or forgiven”, and it would “pay a heavy price
for its secrecy, arrogance and ingratitude
when the time comes to solicit donations for
Controversial Cleric from the outset that the Christchurch
diocese was the most divided in the
country. “It has always been fractious.”
a new cathedral or other smaller churches, Opinions about Bishop Victoria Matthews are Before her arrival, the design of the
or find worshippers to fill them”. as divided as those about the cathedral. cathedral visitor centre caused major
The GCBT then commissioned an inde- angst, as did the inclusion of words from
S
pendent engineering review panel (IERP) a Sanskrit prayer on a cathedral altar
to come up with a make-safe plan for the upporters hail Victoria Melbourne to escape public attention. cloth, but nothing remotely approaching
cathedral. This plan, pulled together in just Matthews as a strong woman Matthews believes the flak she has the heat generated by the cathedral issue.
two weeks, proposed using hydraulics to with a demanding job, copped over the cathedral is partly Clergy who I talked to were reluctant
push a shield into the cathedral, similar to ferociously intelligent, deeply a grief reaction. “We’ve all lost so to speak on the record about their
the siege engines used to breach medieval spiritual, and a scintillating much… I have done my very best to boss. Peter Beck, the high-profile
castles, to protect workers from any falling dinner party guest. Critics within the remain compassionate and pastoral dean of ChristChurch Cathedral who
debris. parishes and heritage groups describe towards those who have been angry resigned in late 2011 to become a city
bayly & moore
When church engineers rejected the IERP her as intransigent. The more charitable about what has happened.” councillor, wouldn’t be drawn on his
solution on cost and safety grounds, the trust of those suggest she found herself at Regarded as a high flyer within relationship with the bishop, except
offered to come back with a more detailed the centre of a perfect storm – wrong the church, Matthews has master’s to say they had their differences.
version of the plan, which it presented last person, wrong time, wrong place. degrees in divinity and theology, did Mike Hawke, who resigned as the vicar Bishop Matthew’s quake-damaged St Albans home was demolished in 2011 and
she now shares a sleepout in the garden with Jethro, an Anatolian shepherd dog.
month. When first approached for an mission work in Haiti, was Bishop of of St Christopher’s Avonhead to work for
Anderton says the GCBT bent over back- interview, Matthews said she was keen Edmonton for a decade, and has served the Anglican Missions Board, says clergy
wards trying to negotiate with the church to talk, but her busy schedule meant on important Anglican bodies such as have muzzled themselves, effectively,
– even agreeing to pay church engineers to she couldn’t fit me in for three months. a taskforce studying the controversial out of fear they will lose their jobs in a parishioners who had been going Mike Hawke
review the IERP plan (a $4000 cheque sent We eventually met eight weeks later idea of same-sex marriage. post-quake restructuring of the diocese to church all their lives don’t go any
to Holmes Consulting Group was returned at the makeshift diocesan offices in St A breast cancer survivor, she twice which could involve a significant number more in sheer protest. “People in the
says in Canada
uncashed). He says the church was unwilling Peter’s Church Hall in upper Riccarton. came close to being made Primate of of church sales and parish mergers. church are angry, and they are voting the Anglican
to allow its engineers to get around the table Matthews’ office, the size of a walk- the Anglican Church in Canada, but Hawke says in Canada the Anglican with their feet and their wallets.” Church is much
with GCBT engineers for a frank discussion in wardrobe, occupies a corner of the a revelation during a pilgrimage on Church is much more autocratic and But Matthews has plenty of loyal
of the options, and that lack of co-operation church-hall stage and she has had every the 800km El Camino trail in Spain Matthews’ tendency to micromanage supporters and Rev Brian Thomas,
more autocratic
ultimately led to the ongoing legal action. reason to follow the advice of the “Keep to Santiago de Compostela led her in doesn’t go down well here. “It’s a cultural who seconded her nomination for and Matthews’
The church denies it was obstructive, saying Calm and Carry On” poster on the wall. an unexpected new direction. “I was thing. In Canada when a bishop says bishop, says her decisiveness was tendency to
that at no time did it restrict access to engi- Her quake-damaged St Albans praying and I suddenly knew that ‘Jump!’ you say ‘How high?’ In New what the diocese needed. “I know she
neers or engineering information. home was demolished in 2011 and she it was God’s will for me to return to Zealand, when a bishop says ‘Jump!’ can be demanding, but I was close
micromanage
But Anderton says from the earliest days now shares a sleepout in the garden Canada. I would be nominated for we say, ‘How, why and where?’” enough to see the pressures on her doesn’t go down
there was a group within the Anglican Church with Jethro, an Anatolian shepherd the primacy [for a second time], but There is discontent too at parish and I’m full of admiration for her well here.
who saw the quake as an opportunity to dog brought over from Canada. I would not be elected, and I must level about the speedy demolition courage under fire. I have never seen
remove a building he believes they saw as “He’s like a Labrador on steroids.” then resign from the [Edmonton] of some damaged churches, her blink when many others would.
outmoded, outdated, costly and inconvenient. Media coverage of the cathedral diocese and wait for what was next.” delays in doing repairs, lack of ‘’Her opponents probably thought
He bases that claim on information debate means she is still readily The “what next” was an email from transparency over financial matters she’d come to heel over the cathedral
revealed in minutes of chapter meetings dis- recognisable in tramping boots and New Zealand inviting her to apply for and the amount of time and money – or else take to her heels – but they’re
closed during the discovery process for the jeans, so instead of heading into the hills the job as bishop of Christchurch in expended on the cathedral debate. up against a woman who came halfway
court case. They show that within three over summer she spent eight days in a country she had visited briefly on a One clergyman observed that round the world and she’s not a quitter.”
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months of the February 2011 quake, the chap- he did not accept the building was as danger- Church in Latimer Square was lucky to escape
ter discussed the merits of a new cathedral ous as the church claimed, and he felt the serious injury when he was buried under
and the need to farewell the old cathedral decision to deconstruct was rushed through stone work that collapsed in an aftershock.
before a new one could be started. without thoroughly investigating other So engineers were understandably risk-
In December 2011, there was more discus- alternatives. “It’s too easy for people who’ve averse when it came to putting workers any-
sion about the old building’s merits and made a decision to look for facts that suit where near the cathedral. The south porch
drawbacks. For example, it offered a sense their decision, and that’s where we’ve got turret and loose stone work were removed,
of peace and holiness and was well-crafted, problems.” and the steel buttress at the main entrance
getty
but it lacked sufficient seating and a private to the cathedral, erected primarily to protect
chapel, acoustics were poor and pillars dis- What About the It’s telling that for all the conflict over search and rescue crews looking for bodies
rupted sightlines. A list of 24 advantages of the cathedral, the one point experts agree in the rubble, was left in place as a prop.
a new cathedral included the opportunity
Other One? on is that the building can be saved. Hare says more evaluation was needed
T
to provide hospitality to tourists, worship he Roman Catholic A geotechnical report by Tonkin and Tay- before they went too much further, and
“in the round”, and a children’s space. Cathedral of the Blessed lor found the land under the building had money was an issue too. “We had to stop
Chapter minutes from a meeting shortly Sacrament was even more a low risk of liquefaction in future quakes when it became clear that the church was
before the official deconstruction announce- severely damaged than and there were no obvious signs of settle- unclear what the insurance position was and
ment note that members “would not be its Anglican counterpart, but its ment of the foundations. therefore how [contractors doing the work]
unwilling” to accept “total destruction to post-quake treatment has attracted The Historic Places Trust strongly believes would be paid.”
getty
ground level”. a good deal less controversy. it’s possible to retain significant elements of Engineer Stefano Pampanin, president of
Bishop Matthews dismisses suggestions With dangerous sections of the the original building, as does a former direc- the New Zealand Society for Earthquake Stefano Pampanin, president of the New Zealand Society for Earthquake
Engineering, is astonished so little was done to prop up the building to prevent
that quake damage was a convenient excuse building removed, the site was made tor of Holmes Consulting Group (HCG) who Engineering, is still flabbergasted so little
further damage from aftershocks. Without cushioning, he says, the steel
to forge ahead with a new cathedral more safe while the Catholic Church was involved in major seismic work on the was done to prop up the building to prevent support shown here, in March 2011, simply acted as a battering ram.
suited to modern forms of worship. Until reviewed its options. Full restoration cathedral in the late 1990s. further damage in continuing aftershocks
the December 23 aftershock in 2011 caused is estimated at well over $120 million Grant Wilkinson supervised the installation and to pave the way for eventual restoration.
further damage, they had every intention and the most likely scenario at this of steel bracing in the roof, concrete sheer He says that without cushioning, the steel
of trying to make the building safe, she says, stage is to save two walls as a quake walls and other strengthening – without support simply acted as a battering ram.
and discussions about a new cathedral were relic, including the columned front which, he says, the cathedral would be a pile An Italian, Pampanin moved to Christ
just brainstorming. entrance and the Virgin Mary statue of rubble. Now a director of engineering com- church 11 years ago. He is an associate profes-
By her own admission, Matthews’ former that rotated 180 degrees in the quake pany Ruamoko Solutions, Wilkinson highly sor of structural engineering at the University
episcopal seat in Edmonton, Canada, looked to face outwards towards the city. regards the work of his former colleagues at of Canterbury and was a member of the Great
like a brick shoebox on its side, but that HCG, who, he says, are in a difficult position. Christchurch Buildings Trust’s Independent
doesn’t mean she isn’t a fan of ChristChurch’s “It’s fair to say the Holmes guys are frustrat- Engineering Review Panel. His speciality is
gothic revival splendour. “I actually really ed as hell because they know it can be bloody seismic design and strengthening of con-
love gothic… This is not about liking or dis- saved but they’ve been totally hemmed in by crete buildings. As a master’s student, he did
liking a cathedral at all. It’s about a cata- use of the building for civic functions and their client… When you read the Holmes computer modelling for remedial work on
strophic event and trying to look at how one its role as a tourist attraction. (In contrast, reports they’re not saying it’s a lost cause… the leaning tower of Pisa, and he visited the
must live in the future should something council heritage grants to the Roman Cath- but they’ve been under instruction to give us Italian town of L’Aquila following the 2009
comparable happen again.” olic Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament maximum and minimum retention [options], quake that wrecked thousands of historic
Giuseppe Bellini / getty
How much say the secular community amounted to just $595,400.) so they’ve come up with that. Their hands are buildings.
should have over this high-profile piece of Matthews rejects the notion that donors tied in the whole process.” Pampanin says the number-one rule with
church real estate is a sore point. Matthews can dictate how the church should manage In an affidavit sworn for the court case, quake-damaged heritage buildings is that
says the “un-churched” (her word for non- its property. “If you give money to a char- HCG principal engineer John Hare said intervention should be reversible and that
churchgoers) need to understand the church’s ity and five or 10 years later that charity maximum retention and strengthening to certainly wasn’t the case with the demolition
primary mission is “not to be a custodian of changes focus slightly, I’m not sure that you 100 per cent of the current building code of the ChristChurch Cathedral bell tower.
heritage buildings, nor to preserve beautiful actually can claim to have a strong say [in was possible, but this “purely engineering Using a YouTube clip, he illustrates how Above: Specialist
architecture”. how it’s run].” perspective” ignores the fact there are other quickly specialist Italian work crews shored Italian crews shore
up the Anime
In the past, the church relied heavily on That does not sit well with those who considerations involved in the decision- up L’Aquila’s Anime Sante church, erecting
Sante church in
public generosity to fund building of the believe the church actively encouraged a making process. a soft protective latticework of timber and L’Aquila, Italy,
cathedral and maintain it. In 2006, when sense of public ownership through its mar- Safety is a high priority for the bishop. “Of airbags strapped in place with steel bands. badly damaged by
a quake in 2009. The
$8 million was raised for choir scholarships keting with regular slots on RadioLive refer- course we need to remember the history and An interlocking steel structure was insert-
make-safe process
and restoration/strengthening work, fund ring to the cathedral as the “heart and soul” importance of the cathedral – it’s incredibly ed inside the badly damaged tower and was completed in
raiser Graeme Brady ran the campaign. He of the city, a place for everybody, not just important to this city. So is the safety of eve- opened up like the ribs of an umbrella to time to celebrate
Christmas
says only about $365,000 came directly from worshippers. Reg Garters, an Anglican lay ry human being, and when those two things support the remaining walls until a light-
mass in 2011.
the cathedral congregation. The Lottery minister and former CEO of the southern are put side by side, safety has to come first.” weight temporary roof was built. The make- Left: Unlike in
Massimo Di Nonno / Getty Images
Grants board gave $600,000 and the Can- branch of the New Zealand Institute of Although no one died in or around the safe process was completed in time to Christchurch,
larger sacred
terbury Community Trust $1.2 million. Management, says there was an “Oh well, cathedral, three men removing an organ were celebrate Christmas mass in 2011.
objects in the
Over the years, the Christchurch City get stuffed, we own the church” arrogance killed when the already quake-damaged The engineering review panel proposes Italian earthquake
Council has contributed $3.8 million to the towards the people of Christchurch. Durham St Methodist church collapsed on a similar approach for the cathedral, erect- were protected as
soon as possible.
cathedral via a grant for electrical and build- Garters resigned from the cathedral chap- February 22, 2011. A few months later, a ing a skeleton of steel framing inside and
ing work and a $240,000 annual grant for ter last year after 21 years’ service because worker removing windows from St John’s outside the building, then clamping the two
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together to stabilise it. Workers would Contrary to annual income from the cathedral visitor
always operate inside a protected area, centre. Three-quarters of the diocese’s 210
avoiding the need to run to a safe haven in
popular belief, buildings were damaged or destroyed.
an aftershock. the Christchurch Seventeen have been demolished and 15
It bothers Pampanin that the church diocese of the churches remain unusable.
appeared so unwilling to accept outside help. Last year, the diocese’s insurer ANSVAR
In defending its decision not to seek interna-
Anglican Church quit the New Zealand market after being
tional expertise, a church press release said is not a “wealthy overwhelmed with quake claims. Now oper-
Holmes Consulting Group engineers “know institution”. ating as ACS, it entered into a scheme of
all there is to know” about the cathedral. arrangement with policy holders to govern
Pampanin counters with a medical analogy how it would pay insurance claims in the
and says doctors, no matter how experienced event it became insolvent.
they are or how well they know their patients, rock and bricks – and the mud mortar flung Irrespective of ACS’ potential insolvency,
still seek second opinions from colleagues to over it does not necessarily contain cement. Holley says insurance payments for the
ascertain the best and newest treatments Clark says that if an earthquake originated parishes are expected to fall $30 million
available. “Monumental buildings are really from the Alpine Fault, the repaired building short of the amount needed for repairs. The
complex patients.” would have to withstand a lengthy period of church must also find $12 million to upgrade
Hare says his company has received quite shaking. “Rather than going on for four buildings assessed as quake vulnerable.
a few second opinions, “perhaps not all well- seconds like it did in February, it could go on Some years ago the cathedral opted for “func-
researched or informed”, but is “open to for minutes. If it’s shaking for that period of tional” rather than full replacement insurance
considered input” provided it addresses the time you get the shake-down effect with the cover to reduce premiums. Despite previous
church’s needs in terms of cost and timeli- rubble masonry, so you get far more damage quake damage to the spire and the risks posed
ness. “I understand the church cannot afford and potential total collapse.” by the Alpine Fault, Holley says the possibil-
to have the cathedral in an unusable state However, even badly damaged walls can be ity of a devastating earthquake was never
indefinitely, even with a temporary shoring strengthened in situ by injecting grout into considered. “Why would you insure a stone
solution, while a final solution is resolved.” the rubble core to stiffen it. “It looks like weak building for full replacement cost when per-
As well as a long record of working on tea; it’s as runny as that because you need it haps you thought that if anything was going
local heritage buildings, Holmes has 13 to penetrate the very fine spaces. Then you to happen it would be a bit of a fire that would
years’ experience seismically upgrading drill horizontally and fix in transverse [steel] partially damage the building?”
historic buildings in quake-prone San Fran- ties and a whole heap of other interventions. The insurance payment for the cathedral
cisco, and Hare bristles at the implication What you’re doing is taking that loose material was $38.9 million, but Holley expects to
that Kiwi engineers are somehow incapable and giving it integrity so it can take the spend more than $10 million of the insur-
of dealing with the challenges presented by shaking without crumbling and falling apart. ance money on consultancy fees, make-safe
the cathedral. Tying all that fabric together is going to be a work, deconstruction and a temporary
But according to Win Clark, an engineer- bit of a mission. It can be done but it’s cathedral in Latimer Square, leaving just
ing consultant for the Historic Places Trust expensive.” $28.5 million for repair or rebuild of the
New Zealand, engineers could learn a lot Therein lays the problem. In Italy, the gov- Cathedral Square building. On top of that,
about strategies for repairing quake-dam- ernment helps meet the cost of securing and court action has proved costly with the
aged rubble core masonry buildings through restoration work on quake-damaged heritage church spending $96,000 on legal fees last
the NIKER project (new integrated knowl- buildings. Here, it is up to property owners. year, with another $52,000 invested in
edge-based approaches to the protection of The Historic Places Trust cannot compel communications-public relations advice.
cultural heritage from earthquake induced owners to carry out stabilisation work to pre- According to a 2012 quantity surveyor’s
risk). The NIKER research involves aca- vent further damage and the trust’s southern report prepared for the church, the GCBT
demic institutions in Europe, the UK, Egypt regional manager Rob Hall says that while restoration proposal would cost at least $109
and Israel and in April the project leader, limited financial assistance was provided to million and could blow out to $187 million,
Professor Claudio Modena from Italy’s Uni- shore up some damaged Christchurch build- versus $85 million for deconstruction and
versity of Padova, speaks at an earthquake ings, the Anglican Church did not apply for rebuilding. The extra cost was a step too far
engineering conference in Wellington before funding. for the bishop, who said it would be “bad
visiting Christchurch. stewardship” and “unfaithful to the mission
Clark says ChristChurch Cathedral was Church Property Trustees chief opera- of the diocese” to make such a large finan-
built over a period of 40 years and the qual- tions manager Gavin Holley says that, con- cial commitment to one structure. Borrow-
ity of materials and standard of workmanship trary to popular belief, the Christchurch ing is not an option because a building
– depending heavily on how much money diocese of the Anglican Church is not a cannot be consecrated unless it is debt-free.
was in the kitty at the time – was not always “wealthy institution”. As far as heritage advocates are concerned,
that flash. For that reason, damage across The former head of Ngai Tahu Seafood this dire financial situation makes the
the building is variable and in-depth inves- took up his position six months after the bishop’s decision to turn down the offer of
tigations will be required before any restora- February quakes, which, he says, left the a global pro bono fundraising campaign all
tion begins. church in a “precarious financial position”. the more inexplicable.
Inner and outer layers of stone sandwich It lost revenue from two commercial build-
the rubble core – “a very merry mix” of waste ings destroyed in the CBD, and $444,447 PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 120
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CONTINUED FROM PAGE 56
Immediately after the February quake, fund- “There’s only one certainty: if the govern-
raising consultant Graeme Brady made the ment is seen to be a party to the demolition
offer on behalf of Everald Compton Interna- of the cathedral it will antagonise a signifi-
tional, a company specialising in major cant proportion of its own conservative
fundraising for institutions. support base. There’s a fragile National vote
The bishop explained at that stage the
Mayor Bob Parker in Christchurch and this could be the issue
Church Property Trustees were confident promotes a sort that breaks the camel’s back.”
insurance would cover the cost of cathedral of crystal palace The Labour Party recently came out in
repairs, and it was only after the June after- favour of restoring the cathedral, saying it
shock they realised it would be insufficient.
encasing the ruins in has become clearer that structural reasons
During a long career with Compton, Brady a “loving embrace” for rejecting restoration do not stack up,
raised more than $500 million worldwide for of glass, with the and while this option might be more expen-
the likes of Westminster Cathedral and St sive, widespread support for the building
John’s College Cambridge, and he says a cam-
temperature inside will ensure the funds are found.
paign of the magnitude required for the cathe- kept at the same The government is sticking with a hands-
dral would normally carry a $500,000 fee. temperature it was off approach to the cathedral and Earth-
Within two weeks of the quake, he and his quake Minister Gerry Brownlee says the
staff had a website ready to go and, with the
when the quake struck. decision about its fate lies squarely with the
blessing of Dean Peter Beck, were setting up church as owner. “I suppose ultimately
fundraising committees in London, the US, there are acquisition powers that could be
Canada and Australia. It all came to a grinding exercised, but I think we would be very, very
halt when the bishop made it clear any mon- we have been though and it is entirely reluctant to get into that sort of space.”
ey raised must go to the whole diocese so appropriate that a new symbol arises that’s The nasty letters, emotive comments and
other damaged churches could benefit too. a combination of the old and new… because “quite intransigent positions taken” don’t
Brady said that approach would not work Above: Designs by church the world has changed.” reflect well on anyone involved, says Brown-
because donors like to know exactly where architects Warren and Mahoney lion); a traditional timber structure similar Parker, a staunch Victoria Matthews’ sup- lee, but he thinks Jim Anderton has done a
their money is going and people willing to include a new contemporary to the existing cathedral but with a lattice- porter, says her “shabby treatment” shows good job of attempting to resolve the dispute.
cathedral (left and centre)
give to the cathedral wouldn’t necessarily representing hands clasped work tower ($85-$181 million); and a con- up the “dark underbelly” of the city psyche. Because of the cathedral’s iconic status,
give money to the diocese. “We could have in prayer and (right) a more temporary new cathedral ($56-$74 million). “She has had to operate within the bounds CERA has backed off enforcing its make-safe
raised hundreds of millions of dollars, but traditional structure built of The church did not indicate its preferred of her faith and her deep personal beliefs, order to give all parties a chance to pursue
timber. Both incorporate the
the whole thing just fizzed… The bishop was iconic rose window in the west option, which will be announced after a and that should be respected. You have to discussions but Brownlee is not expecting a
fixated on her one grand fund for everyone.” wall facing Cathedral Square. period of public consultation, but the con- separate the argument from the often mis- speedy decision. That’s a worry because
When British billionaire Hamish Ogston temporary design by church architects War- placed passions of those arguing. It’s not lengthy delays could start to hold up devel-
Left: Sir Miles Warren’s
offered $4 million to repair the cathedral, design, which uses lightweight ren and Mahoney is the only one that meets legitimate to grind a person down because opment around Cathedral Square. Potential
his terms were not initially accepted by the and cheaper materials. all of the church’s 19 requirements in terms you disagree with their view.” investors in a new convention centre, for
bishop. The pledge was only confirmed after Below: Mayor Bob Parker of seismic safety, atmosphere, acoustics, etc, He blames the city’s establishment for example, may be put off by the prospect of
envisions a crystal palace,
Dean Beck negotiated an agreement allow- with the ruins encased in a and it could be operational within a decade. wanting to preserve the old order and keep a dilapidated church on their doorstep.
ing Ogston to target his donation exclu- “loving embrace” of glass. The other two options could take from five the cathedral as a symbol of the way the city “The whole issue of the cathedral is one
sively for restoration, not a rebuild. to 22 years to complete, and the church rates was run by business and union cliques – an that bothers everybody because it just sits
After spurning the earlier offer from restoration as the most financially risky obvious dig at Burdon and Anderton. there with no progress being made on it and
Brady, the church has since sought advice because it expects difficulties raising enough Matthews likewise feels the debate has people arguing around it. None of that is
from another international fundraising con- money to cover the insurance shortfall. become a power struggle with the old boys’ good for the city in my view,” says Brownlee.
sultancy and a church report also talks of It has already been presented with a much network determined to get its way. “They’ve At best, the minister says, a broad consen-
seeking online donations, crowd-funding cheaper alternative by canon-almoner and tried to take the decision out of our hands sus is all we can hope for. “No one is ever
through social media, also targeting sister architect Sir Miles Warren, working and this is largely about who calls the shots going to agree totally on what’s proposed
city connections and expat New Zealanders. independently of his old architectural firm. in Christchurch… There’s outrage because here, it’s all going to be very difficult.”
Last year, the bishop was part of a five- His $18 million design has a wooden interior I have not done what I was told to do, so it’s On the south side of ChristChurch Cathe-
strong church team that visited a dozen made of stained pine, a lightweight copper a subtle – sometimes not so subtle – game.” dral – in the lea of shipping containers weight-
cathedrals in the UK, Europe and the US to roof replacing the current heavy slates, and Mark Belton says the Christchurch estab- ed with water-filled export wine bladders as
gather ideas for a new structure, taking in the rose window cast in a special white lishment is definitely not pulling the strings ballast to protect passersby from any further
the magnificent Sagrada Familia in Spain, cement instead of Oamaru stone. and those supporting restoration run the collapse – a columbarium holds the ashes of
the avant-garde Le Corbusier-designed Mayor Bob Parker turned architect too, whole gamut of the community. “The fish- past parishioners who’ve chosen to be buried
Notre Dame du Ronchamp in France, and promoting a sort of crystal palace encasing monger at the Lyttelton Farmers Market is there. The epitaph reads: “Let these stones
the old-ruins-new-building mix of Coven- the ruins in a “loving embrace” of glass, with a Maori woman and when she sees me she speak of a love that lasts for ever.”
try Cathedral in England. the temperature inside kept at the same says, ‘How’s that cathedral? You’d better All sides of this fraught debate undoubt-
As a result of the court case, the church temperature it was when the quake struck. bloody save it!’” edly hope these words prove to be true
reconsidered its position on deconstruction He says that, from the outside, the old But there’s no escaping the political ele- when it comes to raising the huge sums
and just as North & South went to press it cathedral was “never the most beautiful or ment to the debate and Burdon says the needed to restore or rebuild what Philip
released three options for ChristChurch imposing cathedral” and he has no desire government should bear that in mind for Burdon likes to call “the most public private
Cathedral: full restoration ($104-$221 mil- to see it resurrected. “This is a great trauma next year’s general election. building in the country”.
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Our Subscribers
Roger Cowell, Yorkshire, England
Legal to find out whether it was legally entitled
to use $4 million from the ChristChurch
to use the $4 million of insurance
money, “significant concerns about Tell us about yourself.
Shenanigans Cathedral insurance payment to build a
Transitional Cathedral in Latimer Square.
CPT’s solvency could arise” and
redundancies could occur; any ruling
An uncle described me as a “systems man”.
I devise systems to communicate ideas.
A knowledge broker, I bring people and ideas
Hailed by the Sydney Morning Herald also had significant implications for
together. I love reading: fiction, poetry,
What chance the different as the ninth-best new attraction the spending of insurance payments
newspapers, magazines, tickets, anything.
factions can “hot-tub” worldwide for 2013, the $6 million, for all CPT-owned land and buildings I was a school-leaver volunteer in Tonga, then
their way to a solution 700-seat cardboard cathedral is in the diocese’s 70 parishes. anthropologist, Pacific historian, nurse and
for the cathedral? made of 90 huge cardboard tubes Despite generous discounts writer. In 1975 I came to England for a summer,
with a polycarbonate roof. by suppliers, fundraising for the and stayed. Eventually, all learning and life
Designed by Japanese architect Transitional Cathedral has been experiences make us who we are, I believe.
T
he Great Christchurch Shigeru Ban, it is similar to the Takatori tough and diocesan marketing and
Buildings Trust (GCBT) went Catholic Church he built in Kobe, Japan, development manager Craig Dixon Do you identify with the North
to the High Court seeking a following the 1995 quake. Originally says they were disappointed when the or South Island and why?
judicial review of the decision conceived as a temporary structure built Canterbury Community Trust declined The North Island, without doubt. I was born in
to deconstruct the cathedral. It argued with volunteer labour, a good deal of an application for $300,000. “People Auckland, and learnt my travelling ways early: I was
a baby when we moved to Ngatapa, near Gisborne.
that under the terms of the Anglican concrete, steel and laminated timber has are cagey about funding this building
I spent my childhood in North Island towns – Kaiaua,
(Diocese of Christchurch) Church been incorporated into the Christchurch knowing there’s been a bit of division.”
Cambridge, Putaruru, Rotorua – filling my head
Property Trust Act 2003, the trustees building to meet stringent earthquake
with memories of libraries, milk bars, A&P shows,
were obliged to “maintain and repair” codes, giving it a 50-year lifespan. amateur opera and theatre. I’ve lived in the South
the cathedral, and could not use the The Transitional Cathedral stands on Island, but my heart is warmed by the North.
insurance money on other projects. land left vacant after St John’s Anglican History Repeats Itself
C
In an interim decision, Justice Lester Church was destroyed in the quakes, and What makes your region special?
Chisholm ruled that while there must be a after 10 years the spectacular A-frame ontroversy about Yorkshire is the latest place I’ve lived: most importantly,
cathedral on the site, it did not necessarily Hailed by The Sydney Morning Herald as the ninth-best new attraction worldwide for building will be gifted to the St John’s ChristChurch Cathedral here I met my partner of 12 years, and we live
2013, the $6 million, 700-seat cardboard cathedral (shown below under construction in surrounded by birdsong, on the edge of Ilkley Moor.
have to replicate the cathedral as it stood parish. So why not use the St John’s is nothing new.
March 2013) is made of 90 huge cardboard tubes with a polycarbonate roof. Designed
before the earthquakes. That left the way by Japanese architect Shigeru Ban, it is similar to the Takatori Catholic Church $4.4 million insurance payment for the A story which appeared in I could do without the cold, dark winters, but seeing
open for the building to be replaced and a he built in Kobe, Japan, following the 1995 quake. It has a 50-year lifespan. cardboard building instead of dipping The Press newspaper on the spring growth, eating outside on (admittedly rare)
warm summer nights, and walking by the Leeds to
GCBT appeal against this point has yet to into insurance money needed to replace June 28, 1872, celebrated
Liverpool Canal can barely be bettered anywhere.
be heard (scheduled for April 18). The judge the original cathedral? The bishop told the passing of the Cathedral Square Ordinance
also called for a stay on deconstruction North & South the St John’s money was so the road in front of the cathedral site
If you lived in New Zealand, where
of the cathedral while Church Property earmarked for the parish hall, vicarage and could be straightened, finally bringing to
would that be, and why?
Trustees considered new information about offices lost in the quake, “plus supporting an end differences “which threatened to
Three alternatives: Rotorua is a special place
engineering and cost issues, and CERA the larger diocesan rebuild/new build”. be interminable” between the Cathedral for me, from my adolescence in the 1960s,
reviewed GCBT’s make-safe proposals. Justice Chisholm said that given the Commission (responsible for building of giving me a literary, political and musical
Following tit-for-tat sniping in the media, site-specific nature of the Cathedral trust, the cathedral) and the City Council. education; we bought a house in Whangarei
the judge insisted the church, GCBT and it was hard to see how any insurance The impracticality of funding the building from a cousin and I could imagine retiring there;
CERA get around the table – “hot tubbing” proceeds could be spent elsewhere. of the cathedral through donations was finally, a house right by Cheltenham Beach in
as he put it – to reach a solution, but at the Having already entered into also canvassed after the Diocesan Synod Devonport would be ideal, if we win Lotto.
time of writing nothing had been settled. building contracts for the Transitional decided the Church Property Trustees
If the GCBT bid fails, the Restore Cathedral, and worried about hefty would give £1500 to the project, provided Do you recall a North & South article or
ChristChurch Cathedral Campaign could legal liabilities if they tried to pull out, £3000 was raised by public subscription. cover that challenged your thinking?
take High Court action based on a legal the Church Property Trustees applied The mover of the synod resolution said this I’ve enjoyed and been challenged by many “big
opinion from public law specialists Chen to High Court for urgent clarification would provide enough money to build walls stories”, on being Maori, being Pakeha, state of
the nation features over the years, but love the
Palmer that it may be unlawful for the over the insurance spending. 10 feet high and claimed the prospect of
small items, too. Once on a flight from London
Historic Places Trust to authorise partial Justice Graham Panckhurst reserved being lumbered with a half-finished building
I saw a child’s photo on a January cover, with a
or total demolition of the cathedral. his decision after a hearing in late in such a prominent location would inspire
“Where is she now?” request inside, and realised
Under the Canterbury Earthquake February at which the Attorney-General sufficient donations for its completion. “she” was someone with whom I corresponded
(Historic Places Act) Order 2011, the submitted there was no “cogent evidence” This appalled The Press: “The idea of regularly by email to buy Pacific book titles.
HPT can grant permission to demolish to back up the church’s decision to screwing a cathedral out of the citizens of
or modify the cathedral but it must take use the money in the way it had. Christchurch by the threat of occupying As part of our subscriber family,
account of heritage and cultural values. The CPT argued that with a 60 per cent the centre of the city with a permanently you’re very important to us. Why is
In a third potential legal hurdle, decline in worshippers since it shifted unfinished building is ingenious; but North & South important to you?
Brent Rawstron and his canon-almoner cathedral services to temporary premises at we trust it will not be acted upon.” From its founding, North & South has been a
brother Haydn are prepared to take Christ’s College, the Transitional Cathedral Fearing the erection of a “paltry starved much anticipated delight for me, both during
action under the Resource Management was essential to ensure there was a congre structure” in a square that “will be as grievous short visits and longer stays in New Zealand
Act in a repeat performance of a court gation to return to the Cathedral Square an eyesore as ever”, The Press was all for and in successive English homes, as a window
case that stopped modernisation of building, and by hosting civic events it selling the cathedral land – a site “admirably onto some of the passions, pleasures and
disappointments of New Zealanders at home
guy frederick
the Canterbury Museum façade. would play a vital role in fundraising. suited” for government offices – and using the
and abroad. It would be my wished-for luxury
Meantime, the church is also waiting The church said if it was unable proceeds to build a cathedral elsewhere. +
on a desert island, the last magazine I would
give up buying if my budget required it.
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