$760,000 pours in for new ChristChurch Cathedral restoration plan

Tuesday, 28 October 2025

A $40m to $45m funding gap must be plugged before a revised restoration plan can start.

Donations have been coming in for a pared-down restoration of Christ Church Cathedral, but the project organisers say there is still a long way to go.

Last month Christ Church Cathedral Reinstatement Ltd (CCRL) revealed a plan to restart work on the central Christchurch building next year using a staged approach, if a funding shortfall of between $40 million and $45m can be found.

The earthquake-damaged Anglican cathedral has sat untouched since it was mothballed in August last year after costs escalated and the Government declined requests for more cash.

Project director Carolyne Grant told The Press they have received $760,000 since the announcement, which she described as “wonderful financial support”.

There has been far more interest than they expected, she said.

Christ Church Cathedral dean Ben Truman, left, Christchurch Anglican Bishop Peter Carrell, centre, and CCRL director Sir Mark Stewart check out the new restoration plan.

Grant said there had been a very positive response to the adjusted work programme.

The programme would see the western half of the building including the 700-seat nave restored, and the tower and entranceway rebuilt, in time for a 2030 reopening. The rest of the building would be walled off in the meantime and restored at a later date.

“We’ve changed the plan, we’ve cut our cloth,” Grant said.

Asked whether the council and Government have been approached again, she said they are “talking to everybody at all times. We are looking at every possible funding source”.

A graphic showing the internal layout of the Christ Church Cathedral as planned in the new, cost-saving restoration programme.

“All of this is very hopeful, but we still have a lot of work to do to close the gap.”

She said detailed documentation is being done for the design and consenting of the building’s foundation work, which excludes the base isolators originally planned.

CCRL, set up alongside a trust in 2018 to run the project, now has only the equivalent of 1.8 fulltime staff.

In a public relations move, the trust has stepped up the number of events held inside the partly-restored building. Grant said these are being paid for by sponsors or through crowd-funding, and are done with the help of volunteers and Canterbury University interns.

The events include paid monthly public tours, a recent miniatures exhibition and pet week, and the upcoming display of the Christchurch City Mission Christmas tree.

About $88m has already been spent on the building’s strengthening and repairs, including $25m from taxpayers and $33m from insurance proceeds.

The partial restoration has been costed at another $90m to $95m, of which CCRL is confident of securing $50m.

That comprises $20m from the church mainly from the future sale of the Transitional Cathedral, $10m previously committed by the city council from a ratepayer levy, and $20m in fundraising and donations.

The trust is aiming to tap both private and public sources to plug the remaining $40m to $45m shortfall.

After the initial work on the cathedral began, the expected cost blew out from $154m to $248m. It was then was revised down to $219m after the foundation design was simplified and plans for a visitor centre and cathedral offices parked, but that also proved too costly.

CCRL acknowledged it has been under pressure following the mothballing, with the derelict cathedral being blamed for hampering rebuild progress in and around Cathedral Square.