Cathedral work costs skyrocket
CHRISTCHURCH: The cost of reinstating the Christchurch Cathedral and constructing new attached buildings is now $154 million dollars.
The building had lain in ruins since the Canterbury earthquakes although strengthening work is now under way.
When the Anglican Synod voted by a narrow majority in 2017 to reinstate the building, the estimated cost was $104 million.
Before the voting, the thengovernment pledged a $15 million taxpayer contribution, as well as a $10 million loan.
The Christchurch City Council also committed $10 million for the project if the synod agreed to reinstate the building.
After the synod voted to reinstate the building, a Christchurch Cathedral Reinstatement Trust was set up to raise the money needed.
Now building work is under way, the cost of the project has increased to $154 million, about 48% higher than originally estimated.
The Anglican Bishop of Christchurch, the Rt Rev Peter Carrell said the $154 million was to finish the ‘‘entire cathedral quarter’’.
That included the ‘‘reinstated and enhanced’’ cathedral, landscaping, two new external buildings and associated costs.
‘‘The reality is that this vision comes with a cost,’’ Bishop Carrell said.
‘‘We’ve known for some time that the overall cost would exceed the $104 million estimate developed by the Cathedral Working Group in 2016.
‘‘That was based on an early engineering assessment of reinstatement that did not meet the full scope or vision of the project,’’ he said.
‘‘It has been a logical, robust, wellthoughtout process and it has taken until now for us to really pin down the look, feel and function of how the cathedral quarter will really be — and, as such, get a reasonable cost estimate for this stage of design.’’
The New Zealand Herald asked
Bishop Carrell if he, as Bishop of Christchurch, was comfortable with this much money being spent on the cathedral, especially given the financial challenges facing many New Zealanders.
‘‘I’m comfortable with $154 million being spent on the cathedral because the cathedral has a vital role to play with the renewal of Christchurch city,’’ he said.
It was ‘‘a lot of money’’, but many parties were keen to reinstate the building because of its ‘‘public contribution to Christchurch’’.
Former Anglican Bishop Victoria Matthews originally recommended demolishing the cathedral and building a new one, saying the church had far greater challenges to tackle, including child poverty and climate change.
Trust chairman Peter Guthrie said $51 million still needed to be raised, calling the target ‘‘ambitious yet achievable’’.
‘‘The good news is with over $100 million already raised, we are already twothirds of the way to our goal,’’ he said.
Concept designs for the cathedral were released yesterday. They included a new visitor centre north of the cathedral, which featured a cafe; a lowered courtyard would include retail space and a museum.
On the south side would be a ‘‘cathedral centre’’ including ‘‘gathering spaces’’ and offices.
Work on the cathedral itself — including stabilisation — would cost $127.4 million, the visitor centre and cathedral centre $15.7 million and a new tower $11.2 million. — The New Zealand Herald