Quake-destroyed chapel rebuilt
A school chapel destroyed in the earthquakes has been rebuilt with its original bell and gargoyles.
About 2300 people came to a dedication ceremony for the rebuilt St Andrew’s College chapel yesterday morning.
At the ceremony three soldiers stood guard over a memorial area dedicated to St Andrew’s College alumni and staff who died in WWII, during opening celebrations of the school’s new $10 million Centennial Chapel.
The original chapel, built in 1955, was destroyed in the February 2011 earthquake. Since then, chapel services had been held in the school’s gymnasium.
The school’s 1450 pupils sat on the banks of the Strowan stream in honour of past pupils who had also lined the banks of the stream at the opening of the original chapel.
St Andrew’s College rector Christine Leighton welcomed staff, pupils, alumni and friends to the Dedication of the Centennial Chapel, before St Andrew’s College Board chair Garry Moore handed the keys of the chapel to Moderator of the General Assembly, Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand, Right Rev. Andrew Norton.
Leighton told guests the opening of the chapel was ‘‘a significant moment in our history’’.
On March 20, 2015, they laid the foundation stone for the new chapel, Leighton said.
The chapel opening coincided with the school celebrating its centennial year.
The original chapel bell is back in exactly the same place, and 1000 bricks, plus gargoyles and leadlight windows salvaged from the original chapel, were part of the new chapel wall facing Norman’s Rd.
‘‘It has all been done with a great deal of craftsmanship.’’
A group of Year 4 to Year 8 pupils performed a kapa haka.
The community fund-raised $3.5m towards the $6m target.
Designed by award-winning architect Patrick Clifford, from Architectus, the new chapel seats 700.