Rotunda repairs in final phases
Christchurch’s Edmonds band rotunda is expected to reopen in the next two months.
The category-2 heritage building, built in 1929, was written off after the 2010 and 2011 Canterbury earthquakes.
Restoration of the rotunda has been ongoing since March 2020. The latest milestone in the project has been the reinstatement of lights on the rotunda’s columns, which have once again made the structure a clear beacon at night.
‘‘We’re in the final phases of construction and detailed finishing works, with additional extensive landscaping ongoing concurrently,’’ the Christchurch City Council’s capital delivery community manager, Darren Moses, said.
The opening of the rotunda was expected to happen in one to two months, he said.
Community groups, supported by the Linwood-Central-Heathcote community board, will hold a soft launch to celebrate the opening.
‘‘This project will be fully completed within the original budget set in the [council’s] Long-Term Plan,’’ Moses said.
Once opened, the rotunda is expected to be used for performances, wedding photographs and as a sheltered spot for people to sit and relax.
It will have lightweight, roll-up panel screens to protect it from bad weather.
Moses said these would be installed once the plaster and paint on the new columns had cured.
The structure’s original copper-sheathed dome, which weighs 80 tonnes, was saved in 2012 and was lifted back into place for the first time in November last year.
The overall restoration work on the rotunda has faced lengthy delays. The council agreed the rotunda would be restored in 2016, but the work never began because of ‘‘budgetary reasons’’.
In 2019 the council budgeted for the work, and in February this year the project got a $1 million donation from the Canterbury Earthquake Appeal Trust.
The rotunda was built in 1929 as a gift to the city from businessman and philanthropist Thomas Edmonds, of baking powder and cookbook fame, to mark his 50 years of business in the city.
‘‘This project will be fully completed within the original budget.’’ Darren Moses Christchurch City Council