John MacDonald: How to honour Chch Cathedral's past without being stuck in it

Here's an idea that I’m quite excited about.  

It’s quite raw – it only occurred to me at about 5:30 this morning. But I reckon it could be a solution to something that has gone on for way too long, with no sign of it ending.  

There is a one-day exhibition being held inside the Christchurch Cathedral today, of miniature models of buildings that went in the earthquakes.   

It’s happening today-only at the cathedral and will move to the Arts Centre next week. 

But I reckon this is what we should be doing with the cathedral permanently. Instead of ploughing more money into restoring it any further, I think it should be kept as it is and used as a public space for things like exhibitions, events, and indoor markets.  

Which would also free-up the rest of Cathedral Square for re-development and potentially open the door for government funding to smooth out any rough edges because it would be a truly public facility.   

Because when the Government said no to putting more taxpayer money into the restoration, it said so because Finance Minister Nicola Willis didn’t see it as a truly public facility.  

But this would be, wouldn’t it?   

Some money would be needed to do things like reinstate the rose window at the front. Tidy up the roof tiles if they need to be. The sort of stuff that would make it tidy enough and safe enough to be a permanent fixture, but not the complete restoration and everything that goes with that.   

The exhibition happening there today, by the way, is called “Ghosts on Every Corner”. Thirteen miniatures of places such as the old Smith's bookstore, Echo Records, Java Café, the police kiosk and the Deans Ave salesyard building.  

As I’ve said before, social licence for the cathedral restoration is disappearing fast. And that’s because as time goes on, a whole generation has come through with no connection to the place. And that’s going to continue.  

So we need to face that fact and come up with a different way of honouring the past - than just sticking to this pipedream that one day, somehow, we’ll have the money needed to finish the full restoration.  

I’m not saying we could do this overnight, but if the city and the church committed to this idea, then we’d have way more certainty than we have now.  

And not just certainty about the cathedral building, we’d also have certainty about Cathedral Square. Because once all the fencing around the site goes and the place is being used as an indoor events centre or indoor market, then the rest of the area can be developed.  

It would also keep the cathedral story alive. Because, at the moment, the cathedral story is at a standstill.  

Having the shell and using it in different ways would visually preserve a piece of the Square’s history without it being a handbrake on anything else happening in the area.  

So the sorts of things I see happening there would be exhibitions, like what’s happening there today, musical performances, and an indoor market.   

On the money side of things, the cathedral project people went to the Government because they don't have the $85 million they reckon they need to finish it. Nicola Willis told them they were dreaming because “public use would be limited due to the cathedral being a private, religious space."  

And not long after that, I asked her if Canterbury Museum —which is also short of money for its redevelopment— would have a better chance of getting money from the Government.  

She said it would, because it’s a public facility.  

Which is what the cathedral would be if —instead of a church— it was effectively a central city events centre bringing locals and visitors together in a building that honours the past but isn’t stuck in the past.  

I think it's a

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Canterbury Mornings podcast with John McDonald
from newstalk zb.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
Right, you read this brilliant idea alert. Brilliant idea alert.
I've got no idea to run past you, and it's
an idea that I'm actually quite excited about. It's quite raw.
It only occurred to me at about five point thirty
this morning, so I don't expect me to have all
the answers, but I'm keen to find out what you

(00:35):
think of it, because I reckon it could be a
solution to something that has gone on for way too long.
Something's gone on for way too long with no sign
of an ending. You may know, or you may not know,
that there is a one day exhibition being held inside
the christ Church Cathedral today of miniature models of buildings

(00:58):
that went in the earthquakes. It's happening today only in
the cathedral and we'll move to the Art Center next week.
But I reckon that this is what we should be
doing with the cathedral permanently, instead of plowing more money
into restoring it any further. I think it should be

(01:19):
kept as it is and used as a public space
for things like exhibitions, events, and indoor markets, which would
also free up the rest of Cathedral Square for redevelopment
and potentially open the door for government funding to smooth
out any rough edges on the cathedral, because it would

(01:41):
be a truly public facility. Because remember when the government
said no to putting more tax payer money into the restoration.
It said no because Nikola Willis she didn't see it
as a truly public facility. But this would be, wouldn't it.
And what's more, it wouldn't be like the gazillions the
cathedral people were wanting. Would be needed. I mean some

(02:04):
money would be needed to do things like reinstate the
rose window at the front, tidy up the roof tiles
if they need to be, you know, the sort of
stuff that would make it tidy enough and safe enough
to be a permanent fixture, but not the complete restoration
and everything that goes with that. The exhibition, by the way,

(02:27):
looks brilliant is called Ghosts on Every Corner and the
miniature buildings have been made by artist Mike Beer, who
goes under the name ghost Cat, and he describes it
as a love letter to pre earthquake christ Church. And
it does look amazing thirteen miniatures of places such as
the Old Smith's Bookstore, remember that Echo records, the Java Cafe,

(02:48):
the Police Kiosk, the Deans Ab Sales Yard building, and
today's exhibition at the cathedral has sold out. Probably it's
got as much to do with the exhibition as a
chance for people to have a look inside the cathedral.
But what it tells me is this is the future
for the cathedral. As I've said before, social license for

(03:12):
the restoration that's diminished big time. Our social license essentially
being public support and endorsement. And the reason that that's
going is because as time goes on, we've got a
whole generation coming through with no connection to the place,
and that's going to continue. The social license for the
cathedral is going to dwindle even more. So we need

(03:36):
to face that fact and come up with a different
way of honoring the past than just sticking to this
pipe dream that one day, somehow we'll have the gazillions
needed to finish the restoration off. Now, this idea of mine,
I'm not saying that we could do it overnight, but
if the city committed to this idea, then we would

(03:59):
have way more certainty than we have now. And not
just certainty about the cathedral building. We'd also have certainty
about cathedral score because once all the fencing around the
site goes and you've got the cathedral being used as
an indoor events center or an indoor market. Once that happens,
the rest of the area can be developed. It would

(04:20):
also keep the cathedral story alive, because at the moment
the cathedral story is it a standstill. Having the shell
and using it in different ways would visually preserve a
piece of the square's history without it being a handbrake
on and anything else happening in the area. So the
sort of things I see happening there would be exhibitions
like what's happening there today, musical performances, indoor markets, which

(04:45):
would be fantastic, wouldn't it, especially during winter. On the
money side of things, as I've alluded to the Cathedral
project people, they went to the government wanting another sixty
mili because they don't have the eighty five million they
reckon they need to finish it, and Nicola Willis said,
you're dreaming. The reason for that being quote, public use

(05:05):
would be limited due to the cathedral being a private
religious space. That's what she said, And not long after
that she was in town and I asked her. I said, look,
the museum. They're also short of money for their redevelopment.
Would they have a bit of chance of getting money
from the government, And she said, yes, they would because
the museum is a public facility, which is what the
cathedral would be if instead of a church, it was

(05:28):
effectively a central city events center, bringing locals and visitors
together in a building that honors the past, that isn't
buried in the past. So I think I think this
is a no brainer.

Speaker 1 (05:42):
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