The church closed in 2021 and was sold in 2023.

Owners St Gerard's Limited say they want to ensure the building is preserved and so remains part of the city's identity.

Although no decisions about St Gerard's have been made, The Local - the community newspaper serving Mt Victoria - says it's likely the Mt Victoria community and the wider city will be able to appreciate and enjoy the building.

The church is a category 1 Heritage building and a well-known Wellington landmark.

Conservation important

A spokesperson for St Gerard's Limited, Jason Foote, says the challenge of caring for St Gerard's is exciting and follows years of searching for the right project.

"The motivation for buying St Gerard's came from the desire to begin a project within New Zealand related to conservation.

"While there are endless possibilities and ideas for the building, we first must complete the major seismic improvements before any of these can be realised.

"We have a strong desire to utilise the church in such a way that it is open to the local Mt Victoria residents as well as the wider Wellington community" Foote says.

He confirms St Gerard's will not be used as a hotel.

The group said that, while commercial return was of "some importance", it wasn't the real motivation. That stemmed from the "unique opportunity to care for and restore an iconic Wellington landmark for future generations".

St Gerard's Limited says it has engaged with both Heritage NZ and Heritage Wellington who will "be vital partners in the future works at St Gerard's".

Source

• The Local

St Gerard's - a distinctive, category one, heritage-listed church and monastery building - was sold for almost $17 million to a secret buyer earlier this year.

Since the sale, St Gerard's former owner, the Institute for World Evangelisation (ICPE Mission), has been finding new homes for furniture and other items.

The ICPE has been particularly careful in re-homing sacred items, many of which have historical value to the Catholic Archdiocese of Wellington.

After talks with the Archdiocese, ICPE is donating the altar from the main church to the Metropolitan Cathedral of the Sacred Heart.

At present the cathedral is closed for renovation and earthquake-strengthening.

Catholic Archbishop of Wellington Paul Martin SM is delighted with the donation.

"I am personally excited that a cherished part of St Gerard's history - and of the Catholic history of Wellington - will live on within our Cathedral, which is home to all the people of God in the Archdiocese," he says.

St Gerard's Church (built 1908) and Monastery (built 1932) were originally owned by the Redemptorists.

The Catholic religious congregation of priests and brothers sold the property to the ICPE Mission in 1993.

The Mission, which is an international Catholic lay missionary organisation, sold St Gerard's because it could not raise the money needed for strengthening the buildings.

Since the sale in March, the ICPE community has been packing up the monastery's chattels.

Furniture is being donated to community organisations which could make good use of them. They include Kahungungu Whanau Services, St Vincent de Paul, Catholic Social Services and the Salvation Army.

Wellington Archdiocese Pastoral Ministry Advisor, Lucienne Hensel, who raised her family in St Gerard's Monastery as part of the ICPE Community, has been working with local organisations to re-home the items.

"It was great to see many of the household items moving on to worthwhile causes," she says.

Moving the altar

Plans are being made at present to move the altar from St Gerard's to the cathedral site as part of the Cathedral's restoration project.

The Cathedral parish is fundraising for the restoration project which began after Sacred Heart was closed in July 2018 after an earthquake assessment deemed it a significant risk to occupants.

Source

• Catholic Archdiocese of Wellington

Described as "arguably one of Wellington's most iconic and photographed buildings," St Gerard's on Hawker Street in Mount Victoria is to be sold by tender later this month. It has an RV of $16.9m.

The category one, heritage-listed buildings were acquired by the Institute for World Evangelisation (ICPE) Mission in 1990 for $540,000. It was used as a retreat and training centre for missionaries.

It closed almost two years ago after it was unable to raise enough funds to carry out the required earthquake-strengthening work.

The buildings are rated at 25 percent of the building standard. They need significant work to bring them up to current standards.

The last service was held in the church on 23 May 2021. The church has since been deconsecrated.

People are still living in the monastery. It has about 30 bedrooms and eight bathrooms.

The church was built in 1908 and the monastery in 1932. Both were designed by architects John Swan and Frederick de Jersey Clere.

The northern part of the building has impressive views out to Oriental Bay and over the harbour, while the western side looks out to the city's well-known landmarks such as Clyde Quay, the waterfront, CBD, the stadium and Victoria University.

"Most Wellingtonians will recognise St Gerard's Church and Monastery from anywhere in the city. It holds a special place in our hearts and has been overseeing all of Wellington's central city for over 100 years," Tommy's real estate says.

"By both day and night this visual display is unmatched in Wellington."

The church and monastery have remained relatively untouched over the last century. They showcase some of the most beautiful leadlight stained-glass mosaics in the country.

"This will be your one and only chance to purchase not a building but a piece of Wellington's history forever," the listing claims.

Tommy's agent James Copeland says there has been a lot of interest in the property from wealthy Wellington businessmen to overseas buyers looking at it both for development and as a private residence.

The buildings sit on 2433sqm of the city's most prime real estate. Its impressive size means it takes about an hour and a half to do a viewing.

"I've been surprised by the number of people and the ideas they've got at this stage about what they want to do with it."

Trying to put a value on it is impossible especially due to it requiring earthquake proofing and some refurbishment, he says.

"Depending on who the potential buyers might be, it just boils down to who might be prepared to pay to get the building.

"So with a closed tender there's no price range and I don't have a huge amount of expectation.

"Whatever comes in on the 16 March, I will obviously present to the owners along with their legal representative in New Zealand and we will just take it from there."

Source

• OneRoof

Cardinal John Dew and several priests went through the rite of leave taking, saying final prayers in different parts of the church including the baptismal font and altar.

Everyone left and Dew shut the church doors for the last time. The last gathering of parishioners - old and new - has passed.

Many of those at the mass were sad, sorry to farewell the parish church where they were baptised and married.

St Gerard's church and later, the attached monastery, have been part of Wellington's landscape for decades. A hundred and thirteen years for the church. Eighty nine years for the monastery.

Both are owned by the International Catholic Programme of Evangelisation (ICPE), which tried without success to raise the $11-to-13 million in funds needed to strengthen the earthquake-prone church building.

The ICPE announced the church's closure in April after only raising $42,000 by July last year.

"I have a feeling of sadness, because I know how iconic the church is," says ICPE New Zealand director Silvana Abela.

"On the other hand, because it does require earthquake-strengthening, I still believe it's the right decision, because it's people's safety [at stake]."

Abela says the building had been "a source of solace and comfort for many over the years," and could be bought by another Catholic organisation.

"I believe that something good could come out of it ... it depends on what God has in store."

The church has an earthquake rating of between 20 and 34 per cent of the New Building Standard.

It needs to be strengthened by 2037, after it was granted a 10-year deadline extension in September last year.

Although the church building's fate is unknown, Wellington property developer Maurice Clark is eyeing it up, with plans to convert it into a public facility.

Clark is considering taking on the job, even though ICPE says it has "no immediate plans" for the building beyond its final mass last Sunday.

"I have been, and still am, looking at it," Clark said.

"The most obvious commercial use is apartments, but I think the most suitable use for that building would be a public place such as a university building or library."

Clark owns and manages McKee Fehl Constructors, which took on one of Wellington's largest heritage strengthening projects in 2014 - the Old Public Trust Building on Lambton Quay. McKee Fehl has been responsible for restoring many of Wellington's heritage buildings.

Clark estimates upgrading the church and monastery would cost $20m. He says the church, an unreinforced masonry building, is a structural "nightmare." The monastery is made from reinforced concrete.

The monastery and a small chapel are still open.

Source

• Stuff
• Stuff
• Image: St Gerard's

While St Gerard's future is ultimately up to the owners, the church - built in 1908 for the Redemptorists - could be deconsecrated so it could be used for events like weddings and funerals, suggests City Councillor Iona Pannett!

The monastery building - which was was added in 1932 - could also be strengthened and converted to housing, she says.

"Given there is a housing crisis, obviously we want to maximise the space that we have."

Pannet, who leads the city's heritage portfolio, says it is "highly unlikely" that St Gerard's will be demolished.

"I think there would be a public outcry," she says.

"It's very hard to demolish a listed heritage building. In that case finding a strengthening solution is really important.

"I love the building, it adds something to Wellington, and the council has supported them [ICPE] but that is not going to be enough," Pannett says.

She thinks costs to strengthen the buildings will probably go above $13m.

Pannett says Heritage New Zealand's rules will allow for changes to be made to the building and its inside does not have heritage protection.

Another Wellington city councillor, Nicola Young​ says the buildings are a significant part of Wellington's landscape.

She wants to see the buildings saved and hopes they can be repurposed into apartments or a hotel.

The big red brick Category 1 heritage building overlooking Oriental Bay has been "yellow-stickered" since the Christchurch earthquakes.

Its last service after 113 years will be held on Pentecost Sunday, May 23. It will be celebrated by the Catholic Archbishop of Wellington, Cardinal John Dew​.

From then on, the fate of the quake-prone church and monastery buildings - rated at 25 per cent of the New Zealand building standard - remains unclear.

Its owners, ICPE Mission New Zealand, tried to raise funds to get the buildings up to code but, by July 2020, had only raised $42,000 of the $11 million needed. It is understood the cost is now $13m.

ICPE Mission made the decision to close the buildings in consultation with the Archdiocese of Wellington.

"Both buildings have category 1 Heritage New Zealand ratings. The ICPE Mission has yet to decide their future," ICPE Mission New Zealand director Silvana Abea says.

She says the Covid-19 pandemic means for the second year running the ICPE's School of Mission could not take place, with overseas missionaries and students unable to attend.

"At the same time, the reality of a large building that needs serious earthquake strengthening has led the ICPE Mission to rethink our long-term presence in Wellington and look at new ways of being Christ's presence in the city."

Historic Places Wellington chairwoman Felicity Wong​ is full of praise for the ICPE.

"The ICPE have looked after that building, and have made it open and welcoming to the people of Wellington.

"The church has a special place in Wellington's landscape and is an important heritage building," she says.

Source

• Stuff
• Scoop
• Image: Flickr