The Press letters to the editor Extra: Wednesday April 10

Wednesday, 10 April 2024

Cathedral a burden

I wonder whether the late Jim Anderton would have been so keen to push forward with the Christ Church Cathedral restoration if he had known what a burden it would become to his beloved city?

Even if it is mothballed now, there will be ongoing costs in deterring vandalism, graffiti and the return of pigeons and other wildlife to its interior.

One of the modern alternatives, proposed after the quakes, would have been close to completion by now.

Rose Isdale, Somerfield

Pool rebuild funds

The solution to the Christ Church Cathedral repair cost blow-out seems simple to me, particularly in light of the indecision around the location of the new Catholic cathedral. Why not pool all the rebuild funds for both cathedrals and rebuild Christ Church Cathedral as an inter-denominational facility?

Of course, it may prove difficult to convince the respective church leaders of the benefits of this solution.

Karen Schaab, Merivale

Own resources

Anybody who has studied finance and capital development will be well aware of the concept of being “too big to fail”. There are plenty of books on the subject as well.

So here we are with Philip Burdon being quoted as saying that the cathedral is “far too developed now not to complete this building” (Cathedral: A city divided, April 8). That may be so, provided that the Anglicans use their own resources to do so, and do not rely on hard-pressed ratepayers and taxpayers.

Then, in the same article, the bishop is quoted from a previous article that “the church's finances [are] not centralised and each local parish and diocese retained much”. Yes, but no.

For example, one of the 58 parishes in Christchurch, that of Fendalton, reports that its $7.5 million in land and buildings (at rateable value) ' … are vested in the Church Property Trustees who hold them on behalf of the parish'. I suggest that the trustees need to think laterally how the assets of the many parishes could be applied to solve the cathedral funding problem. After all, their net assets total $255m at this time.

Michael Gousmett, Rangiora

Towering miscalculation

According to Luke’s gospel, Jesus says: “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish’.” (Luke 14:28-30; NIV).

Bullseye, Jesus!

Phillip Rex Robinson, Waltham

City’s role

No-one should be surprised at the now anticipated $248m cost to rebuild the complex cathedral structure on unstable ground. The final cost will most likely not end there.

It is unfortunate that the Anglican Church was persuaded to agree to the rebuild based on a most likely underestimated cost.

Where to from here? To demolish and build something more appropriate for the city centre is likely to cost more than completing the rebuild.

The rebuild must therefore continue. But who will pay?

If the church cannot complete the project, it should gift what can be built with existing funding to the city, allowing the city over time to complete the project with a lease-back arrangement to the church.

Stuart McKinlay, Lincoln

Bring the arks

Christchurch is built over a swamp and is below sea level.

Years ago, only one street away from the cathedral, the under-stage area at the Theatre Royal had gutters and pumps which were used each time it rained to prevent the area from flooding from the underground streams in the area. I witnessed this many times when I was performing there.

With the rise in sea temperature and increased levels of land flooding, it’s not a repaired cathedral that Christchurch needs but arks waiting on standby pontoons to escape future Judgment Day.

Brian Brodie, Mairehau

Restoration lottery

An easy resolution for funding the cathedral restoration is a lottery - local or national. This is how they often restore national treasures in the UK.

Stuart Taylor, Harewood

Get it gone

They say when you are dead you are soon forgotten. The Christ Church Cathedral is very dead but sadly not forgotten and for all the wrong reasons.

It sits there in its ruin like a dead Christmas, costing a fortune at every turn. Jeff Bell’s cartoon of April 8 says it all. Get it gone.

Andrew Luddington, Lincoln

Wisdom at a crossroads

It is clear that the Christ Church Cathedral repairs have reached a crossroads. It is also pretty clear that Gloriavale, Israel, and world peace have reached their own respective crossroads.

A guy who lived roughly 2600 years ago said a few things about being at the crossroads and remembering ancient wise paths.

I have been passionate in the past for history and symbolism to guide our understanding of cathedral repairs but honestly, some issues are more important now than buildings.

Yet, just possibly, if we put prayerful effort into discerning the good path for the cathedral (this is a religious building; prayer should be paramount), our exercise in wisdom may help our chances of solving the weightier matters.

Mark Aitchison, Sydenham

Past and present

At Coventry in the United Kingdom the remains of the cathedral bombed in World War II were beautifully linked to the new. Has the possibility of doing something similar here been considered?

The cardboard cathedral is a wonderful building which could perhaps be moved beside what can be reasonably salvaged of the original?

Wendy Wilks, Casebrook