Christ Church Cathedral mothballing ‘shameful’ and ‘sad’

Wednesday, 21 August 2024

The decision to mothball the Christ Church Cathedral has been described as “shameful” and “very sad” for the city.

Christ Church Cathedral Reinstatement Ltd (CCRL), the charitable company managing the rebuild, announced on Tuesday that without government support it had no choice but to pause the $219 million project.

Attempts to fill an $85m funding gap have failed and the project will now be mothballed indefinitely.

Construction was pausing, but CCRL chairperson Mark Stewart said the group was not walking away from the project, nor had it given up on securing funding.

He criticised the Government’s decision not to contribute more money as “short-sighted”.

“By just kicking it down the road it’s actually making it worse and more expensive and harder to solve.”

Finance Minister Nicola Willis confirmed this month that the Government would not put in any more cash. The cathedral was a private, religious space, she said.

The repair bill is between $209m and $219m. CCRL’s shortfall was between $75m and $85m.

About $84m has already been spent, including almost $30m of public money ‒ $25m from taxpayers and $3m from city ratepayers, plus other central and local government assistance.

Stewart said $50m could be added for every decade the cathedral sat idle. It was too early to say how long work would be paused for - that would depend on how quickly the money could be found, he said.

Waiting for a new, more sympathetic government to be elected was one option, along with continuing to work with the existing one, Stewart said.

Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said Labour did not have a policy on the cathedral but as the local MP he would advocate that a Labour government contribute.

“This Government has shown Christchurch the hand. It’s said to Christchurch, ‘you’re on your own’.”

Webb said the Government should have used its influence to work on a solution, which might have included more money, underwriting the project, or providing a loan.

“The economic impact of an unfinished cathedral is massive.”

Webb said areas either side of Cathedral Square, like Oxford Tce and New Regent St, were vibrant but to get from one to the other, people had to walk through somewhere that looked like World War II had just ended.

Christchurch mayor Phil Mauger said it was a “very sad day for the city”.

“This is so much more than just a church, it’s a building that sits at the heart of our city, and I hope that funding to complete the reinstatement can be secured at some point.”

Mauger said the council would continue to support CCRL’s efforts to find a funding pathway so work could continue. He did not say what that support could be.

Christchurch Civic Trust’s cathedral spokesperson, Mark Belton, said seeing the cathedral project mothballed was “shameful”.

“The reality is it’s bloody tragic and very sad for Christchurch.”

The Government had let the city down hugely by refusing to keep funding the cathedral, he said.

Work will start next week to “demobilise” the site. It will take three months and involve making the cathedral weather-tight.

Project director Keith Paterson said the scaffolding would be removed, but fences around the site would likely stay. The fences encroach into Cathedral Square, where CCRL leases 1472m² of land. The lease runs until 2030. The consent to restore the cathedral does not have an end date.

Exact costs to pause the project were not known, but they were about $5m initially and another $1m each year to maintain it, Stewart said.

Paterson said most of the ongoing cost was paying for the storage of 15,000 items. Some 5000 pallets of stone and 38 tōtara trusses from the cathedral are stored in warehouses across Christchurch.

CCRL had enough money to cover immediate costs, but would not say exactly how much that was or how long it could afford to pay $1m a year in maintenance. At a council briefing in April, CCRL said it had $8m in the bank.

Depending on the length of the pause, CCRL could end up fundraising to cover the cost of storage, it said.

Bishop Peter Carrell said there were no plans to demolish the cathedral. “I will never, as Bishop of Christchurch, seek a demolition order,” he said.

He said there could not have been a worse time to seek financial support for the project.

“We know many New Zealanders are facing financial challenges at the moment and appreciate that Government has more immediate funding priorities.”

Fundraising continued, he said, and he remained committed to it.

“We will also continue the search for international donors.”

The council was due to give another $7m in ratepayer funding this month, but CCRL wants it to put the money aside for now.

The council said on Tuesday it was too early to make a decision on the future of the money.

The project is about a third complete. Half of the strengthening work has been done.