It is a great relief that the decision has been
made to restore Christ Church Cathedral. This is the beginning of a long and
complicated process that must produce the best possible outcome for the heart
of our city.
There are some critical elements of the restoration
that need to be carefully managed and thought through.
The restoration is going to take a long time - anticipated
somewhere between seven and ten years. This will involve the project being
deliberately planned and executed over that timeframe. Importantly that
execution will need to be done in a way that will have minimal impact on the
heart of our city. It needs to be conducted in a way that adds attraction and
interest to our central city as the restoration is conducted. That might mean
that the restoration is visually accessible to the public in Cathedral Square.
Of course, the Cathedral needs to be restored in harmony
with the Cathedral Square redevelopment. The Square is going through a massive
reconstruction and this needs to be done to reinforce the positioning and
presentation of Christ Church Cathedral in the Square.
We have got one chance to get this right. The
restoration of the Arts Centre is showing us how that can be done with a staged
rebuild, sensitive to its environment.
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