Vic Square’s fresh look revealed
A significant piece of Christchurch’s history has reopened to the public with the completion of earthquake repairs in Victoria Square.
About 100 people attended yesterday’s blessing and brief ceremony to reopen the public park, on the corner of Colombo and Armagh streets, after a 13-month,
$7.6-million rebuild managed by Crown rebuild company Ō tākaro. Another $5.1m of work is still being completed on the roads next to the square and is due to be finished in May.
The ceremony ended with the Bowker Fountain being restarted with help from one of Henry Bowker’s descendants, Jane Stace.
About 17,500 new plants have been added to the square and about 170,000 new pavers laid, while 3 kilometres of pipes and cabling have been placed below ground.
About 600 people have put
58,000 hours of labour into the park and roadworks. A lot of the work is not visible, such as new drainage, electrics and irrigation, which will help improve the life of the square.
The square is an important part of Christchurch’s history. Originally called Market Square, it once contained the city’s post office, police station, work stores, animal pound and immigration barracks.
Before European settlers arrived, it was part of the Puari Pa¯ and an important site for gathering mahinga kai (natural resources including food sources). Once Europeans arrived, it was a central place for trade and exchange.
This history has been incorporated into the final design. Artworks from Nga¯ i Tahu artists including three whāriki (woven mats of welcome) and a restored 6-metre-high poupou (tribal pillar). Illustrations by artist Jennifer Rendall, representing mahinga kai, have been sand-blasted into a 40m-long basalt wall.
Ngāi Tahu artists/weavers Morehu Flutey-Henare and Reihana Parata created the whā riki – part of a series of 13 to be placed along the city’s river precinct.
Flutey-Henare said the three in the square represented the health of the water, mahinga kai, and the nine tall trees that represent the unsettled grievances between Ngā i Tahu and the Crown.
She said the 13 pieces would act as welcoming mats to the city.
‘‘When they’re all finished, they’ll tell a story from the beginning, as if you had a pō whiri in the marae, you will be welcomed into O¯ tautahi.’’
Matapopore, an organisation providing cultural advice to authorities working on the Christchurch rebuild, provided guidance towards the restoration of the square. Project consultant Keri Whaitiri said the poupou – which was carved from tōtara by Riki Manuel for the 1990 commemorations of the Treaty of Waitangi – had been in a ‘‘state of real disrepair’’ before the restoration, including having some rot around the base.
A large concrete and brass table with a depiction of a kanakana (lamprey) on the top has also been placed by the Avon River.
Whaitiri said one of the main aims was to bring wha¯ nau ‘‘down into the spaces beside the river so they can really engage with it’’.
‘‘The grass area that’s opposite the Town Hall was seen as a natural place for picnicking and gathering, so there’s a food preparation table that’s gone in there.’’