The Anglican Diocese has decided that, while the cathedral will not be demolished, it will instead be “lowered” by being deconstructed down to a level of approximately 2m to 3m.
“The church’s decision to deconstruct the Cathedral down to sill level or a maximum of two to three metres around the full extent of the building will make it very difficult to retain any sense of this very important building as it once was,” said NZHPT chief executive Bruce Chapman.
The original earthquake happened in September 2010 and there were further earthquakes and aftershocks as recently as December 2011. NZHPT has continued to provide heritage advice and engineering peer review of three options that ranged from maximum retention to deconstruction to sill level of the entire building.
“While we recognised the cathedral had sustained further damage as a result of ongoing earthquakes, the NZHPT’s consultant engineer remains confident that restoration or reconstruction in a strengthened form remains possible,” he said.
The NZHPT would have preferred the option which sought maximum safe retention of the building’s heritage as a basis for rebuilding the Cathedral in a recognisable form.
Chapman added: “While we appreciate that this may be a more expensive option, restoration or reconstruction in a strengthened form remains a possibility, and there is an opportunity to explore options to obtain the necessary local, national and international financial support. As with many other heritage buildings, as well as its important primary role as a place of prayer and worship for the Anglican community, it is also a place symbolic of the identity of Christchurch. While the Cathedral is privately-owned, management decisions need to be cognisant of the wide range of public values associated with the building.”
Bishop Victoria Matthews said: "We acknowledge the high level of community interest and sense of ownership as the cathedral was both an iconic building and a place of regular worship by many. However, this is now a very dangerous building that needs to be made safe." The ongoing aftershocks and constant damage now even by the smaller aftershocks make saving the cathedral impossible, she said. “The Anglican Diocese is facing a hard reality - the Cathedral is the revered ‘mother church’ but is not the only church in the Dioceses to have sustained damage, in some cases irreparable or too costly to repair."
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