Tour parties are being invited to explore the historic Christchurch building. Once there, those on the tours (restricted to 25 people) learn about the cathedral's architecture and the ongoing work to rebuild it.

Project manager Keith Paterson says the free tours were fully booked within an hour of being advertised.

"The purpose of these tours is to let as many people as we can sensibly handle get inside and have a look and just understand it a little bit better. And then hopefully they'll go and tell two people, and they'll tell two people and so on."

Paterson estimates the work to reinstate the cathedral is about a third of the way through, while the strengthening process is about halfway through.

"What they'll see is quite a lot of scaffolding. But I'll also be pointing out to them the way the strengthening is being done, some of the stonework that's been taken down and basically how the walls are constructed, that sort of thing."

Ballooning costs

The team behind the "Reinstate the Cathedral" project say the cost of the rebuild has risen by tens of millions.

"A few surprises have led to us reassessing the overall position of the project. But it doesn't stop the fact that it's still the heart of the city and that there's a lot of love for this project around the community."

A recent project review revealed the price tag to rebuild the landmark cathedral has grown enormously. Where it was originally projected in 2017 to cost $104m dollars, estimates now say it will cost $248m.

$30m of the reinstatement project's shortfall needs to be found by August. If it isn't, the project will probably have to be mothballed indefinitely, Paterson says.

Join a tour

A limited series of free one-hour public tours of the cathedral will run each Monday through to the end of May.

Interested members of the public can visit christchurchcathedral.org.nz for bookings and more information.

Source

• Otago Daily Times

Doing so would avoid restoration work stopping in October if more funds cannot be found before then.

This is because when the Anglican Synod approved the cathedral's restoration in 2017, its terms stipulated that each stage could only go ahead if the full funding for that stage was already in place.

The total cost forecast at about $154m.

At present, $103 million is currently in place for the project, with the first stage - involving stabilising the cathedral with large steel frames - underway.

This stage will cost $11.8m.

The next stage, which involves strengthening and reinstating the main cathedral building, will cost about $115.6m, which exceeds the currently available funding.

Christchurch diocese bishop Peter Carrell says revised approval terms may be presented to the Synod in September.

He says he hasn't drawn up any revisions or discussed the matter with Synod so far.

If there is still insufficient money for the main stage by September, Carrell says the question to put to the Synod would be: "Do we have flexibility to continue with the money we have?"

"We are talking about the possibility where we break large phases down into smaller phases. We now have a better sense of the sequencing than we did in 2017."

Carrell is confident construction could continue beyond October because of the $100m already raised. The project is due for completion in mid-2027.

"We have plenty of money to keep going for a number of years," he says.

"It would be silly to say ‘stop' simply because we are a few million short."

"Over the lifetime of the project we will raise all the funds we need to raise. It is quite a long time."

Last year, restoration leaders said $26m would need to be raised by this October for work to continue.

Carrell says there is a will to continue with the project, "but we want to honour the 2017 resolution and the joint venture agreement that flowed out of that."

Christ Church Cathedral Reinstatement Trust chairman Peter Guthrey says the Trust is working on finding donors in New Zealand and overseas to cover the $51m shortfall on the project.

"At the moment we don't have any significant new pledges beyond Philip Burdon's donation of $5m," he says.

Burdon says it's important to avoid a pause in restoration work as it increases costs and people like stonemasons leave the project.

"That is something that all parties are trying to avoid," he says.

Besides the stabilisation and reinstatement costs, $11.2m will be spent on a new tower and $15.7m on two new buildings.

The trust already has over $100m for the project in grants and pledges. These include $53m from insurance, $6m in lotteries funding, $25m from the government, $10m from Christchurch City Council and at least $9.1m in personal donations.

Source

• Stuff
• Image: Stuff

The College will be rebuilt on a 3-hectare site in the Christchurch suburb of Papanui.

The first students at the state-integrated school for girls are expected to start at the new $20 million facility in February 2023.

Catholic Bishop of Christchurch Paul Martin says finding a new home for the school had always been one of his main priorities.

The plans for the Catholic college, which has a maximum roll of 430, were designed by Christchurch architects Sheppard and Rout.

Sustainability is at the forefront of its design. It will be built within the former Foodstuffs warehouse that currently exists onsite.

Davidson says the innovative and exciting plans have been ‘worth the wait'.

"In moving to Papanui, we join our brother school St Bede's College, and St Joseph's Primary, and the Christchurch North Parish to become a Catholic hub and we look forward to working together in the coming years.

"While we never expected to be at our current site for ten years, it has been a blessing in disguise in that we've been able to really consider how we want to teach and learn in the future and what spaces are essential at our new school," Davidson says.

Marian College board of trustees chairwoman Jan Paterson said the new site, next to St Joseph's Primary School, would give the school plenty of room for growth and was close to St Bede's College, "offering potential for sharing and collaboration."

"Thank you also to our school community for your loyalty and patience, and to all the schools, individuals, businesses and communities who have supported Marian since the earthquakes. It means a lot to us."

Marian College had to move from its original site after the 2011 earthquakes.

Covering 17,737 square metres in two titles, the Christchurch the Catholic Diocese is selling the site for development.

Marian College was founded on the site in 1982 after a merger between two Catholic secondary schools for girls, St Mary's College and McKillop College.

Marian then relocated to temporary premises after the earthquakes.

Hamish Doig, who in conjunction with Will Franks is selling the property, says the land sale will help fund the school's rebuild.

"We've never seen as much pressure for residential land as we have at the moment with multiple bids on all available land that we're taking to the market.

"Developers are typically selling all their assets from the plans before beginning construction, putting them in a very strong position for acquiring more."

A transport plan will be designed so students from more than 30 feeder primary schools can get to the new school easily.

Source

• Voxy
• Stuff
• Sporty
• Image: Stuff