Seven great places to emerge post-quake
Alastair Paulin picks out seven forward-facing places that show what our city is becoming.
Anniversaries of disasters are understandably focused on loss. We mourn lives lost, homes razed and public landmarks destroyed.
But seven years after the devastating earthquake of February 22, 2011 – and more than halfway through the rebuild of Christchurch – a new city is taking shape.
With reminders of what we have lost or are yet to restore still propped up around the city, we have a twofaced city, with parts facing backwards and others pointing to the future. We pick out seven forwardfacing places that show what our city is becoming.
The Crossing
When the barriers came down around much-hyped mall The Crossing last year, the Melbournisation of the CBD became apparent. Laneways snake through the shopping complex, making it feel less like a mall than a village, albeit one dominated by high-end fashion. As the final piece of the four-block retail precinct around Colombo St that includes Ballantynes, the BNZ Centre and the ANZ Centre, its opening made sense of the laneway strategy, with small cafes, sheltered connections and even beanbags creating an intimate shopping and office mix where once had been a decaying retail district. The central city is back.
Hagley Oval
The plan to convert Hagley Oval from a home of club cricket to an international venue was one of the most contentious of post-quake debates. It pitted defenders of Hagley Park tradition against Canterbury Cricket and its fans, who saw the opportunity to make up for the loss of Lancaster Park as a test venue. The resulting modest-sized venue with the feel of a village green has proved a boundary-clearing smash with cricket fans, who have made it one of the most popular venues in the country
Margaret Mahy playground
It may have been surprising that the first major post-quake Government project to be completed was a central city playground but its ambition and popularity have vindicated the decision. At $40 million including land purchase and development, the cost was eye-watering but it was an instant hit when it opened just before Christmas 2015 and its popularity has been unwavering ever since. It drew families back into the central city, provided an invaluable life-line to the plucky and isolated retailers of New Regent St and continues to delight children and the young at heart.
The Tannery
A former tannery building from the 1870s in the industrial suburb of Woolston reborn as a high-end retail development was another unlikely sounding project when it opened in June 2013. But it quickly became a hip destination and pointed the way for a reshaping of suburban fortunes post-quake as the centre city languished. The Colombo boutique mall served a similar function for Sydenham, Victoria St became a night life-strip and now restaurants, galleries and under-construction apartments promise to make Welles St the anchor of the urban revival of another former industrial neighbourhood.
Memorial Ave Gateway Arches
Echoing the Southern Alps and Canterbury’s braided rivers and symbolising Christchurch’s role as the gateway to the South Island, the soaring 27 metre-high arches welcome visitors from the airport. The design for the arches over the rebuilt intersection of Russley Rd and Memorial Ave predates the quakes but the project was not opened until late 2017, meaning the city finally has a noteworthy gateway.
As a side note, biking the gorgeous, award-winning underpass that goes under the newly four-laned Russley Rd at Harewood Rd feels like flying into the future, one where pedestrians and cyclists are considered alongside cars when major roading projects are commissioned.
Transitional Cathedral
Better known as the Cardboard Cathedral, this architectural wonder has been overshadowed by the protracted and bitter fight over the future of Christ Church Cathedral. But for its symbolism, quick build and international attention, the world’s only cathedral made substantially of cardboard was the first post-quake building to show the possibilities of a rebuilt Christchurch.
Canterbury Earthquake National Memorial
Another architectural project that was mired in controversy, the memorial wall alongside the Avon River near Montreal St was never going to please everybody. Opened for last year’s quake anniversary, it forms part of the Avon River precinct which is making the founding waterway of the city part of the rebuilt city. As Bruce McEachen, the chair of the Quake Families Trust explained, it is not just for mourning families but ‘‘the 330,000 people who on February 22 experienced some form of loss’’.