Christchurch Cathedral plans rejected: The Church of England Newspaper, August 12, 2012 p 6. August 16, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of Aotearoa New Zealand & Polynesia, Church of England Newspaper.Tags: Christchurch Cathedral, Diocese of Christchurch, Victoria Matthews
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The Bishop of Christchurch, the Rt Rev Victoria Matthews, has rejected as unsafe and expensive a proposal to rebuild the city’s earthquake-damaged cathedral.
Last week, Bishop Matthews said she was not persuaded by the arguments put forth by the Great Christchurch Building Trust that there were feasible alternatives to demolishing the cathedral and that it could be restored.
The difference in cost would “probably be about $15 million, and it’s very interesting in post-earthquake Christchurch we talk about millions like we once talked about hundreds. But when you think about $15 million it could do a great deal of good in other places,” the Bishop said.
No decision had yet been made on the final design of the new cathedral, Bishop Matthews said, but it would not be a replica or a radical departure in style from the Gothic cathedral but a reconstruction.
On 22 February 2011 the city of Christchurch on New Zealand’s South Island was badly damaged by a 6.3 magnitude earthquake. The cathedral’s tower collapsed and the walls and masonry were badly damaged, while the rose window above the altar was destroyed in a June aftershock.
At a 28 October press conference the Bishop and Dean announced the cathedral would be deconsecrated in preparation for rebuilding. Bishop Matthews said the new cathedral would never look “exactly as it used to”, but would be a “mix of old and new”.
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
