New repair plan, boss for cathedral

A board under new leadership will take over the repair of Christ Church Cathedral after what is understood to be a considerable fundraising shortfall.

The 10-year, $154 million earthquake repair of the central Christchurch building is under way.

The project is being partly funded by public money but has also been seeking $51m in donations.

After costs blew out from the original $104m repair estimate, a campaign was launched last year to target wealthy donors. It sought $26m by October this year and another $25m within three years.

Yesterday, the newly formed Christ Church Cathedral Ltd took over the project. It will be led by a single board headed by Christchurch businessman Mark Stewart. The order of repairs will also change.

Stewart will take over from Justin Murray, who chaired Christ Church Cathedral Reinstatement Ltd, a joint-venture company formed to run the project.

CCRL has been sharing governance of the work with its two shareholders, the Church Property Trustees, the arm of the Anglican Church which owns the building, and Christ Church Cathedral Reinstatement Trust, a group formed to raise funds for the repair.

Stewart is part of the rich-lister Stewart family. The investment banker is the son of Dame Adrienne Stewart and the late Sir Robertson Stewart.

He declined to reveal how much money had been raised in the donor campaign so far, but said they still needed ‘‘north of $50m’’.

Stewart said a plan to build cafe and museum buildings alongside the cathedral before replacing the spire had been reversed. Completing the main building first would make the fundraising campaign more attractive to potential donors, he said.

The project is due for completion by 2028.