Life restored to old school building
Overlooking the tranquil blue of Rāpaki Bay in Lyttelton Harbour/Whakaraupō lies a “rare surviving example” of 19th-century heritage within a Ngāi Tahu settlement.
Decades of use as a school and community building left it looking a little tired, but now it is being restored to its original condition – with a few modern extras – thanks to a $700,000 restoration.
Constructed in 1876, Rāpaki School served as a place of education for 70 years before transitioning after World War II to become a preschool and community hub.
In 2022, the building was used by Piki Films for the film We Were Dangerous, directed by Josephine Stewart-Te Whiu and released in March.
Now it’s following in the footsteps of Rāpaki Church, which was constructed in 1896 and restored five years ago, and is still occasionally used for church purposes.
“Although they haven’t been used for those purposes a lot in recent years, the community wanted them to last longer, to record what the history had been for the last 150 years,” Rāpaki Kaumātua Donald Couch said.
“If we get lucky, I think it will look like what it’s looked like for the last 150 years – we’ve purposely done that.”
The restoration, which started in February, includes “significant repairs” to the old school’s bones, with seismic strengthening. The building has also been slightly relocated to a less erosion-prone site.
A new kitchen, showers and toilets are yet to come, which will ultimately make the building more available for educational and community purposes.
“Some of the weatherboards and some of the work inside has survived, [but] a lot of it hasn’t,” Couch said. “It will be safe and, hopefully, good for another long time.”
Work is expected to finish by the end of July. Couch is writing a history of the school, and expects to complete his book by Christmas.
Andrew Scott, Te Hapū o Ngāti Wheke general manager, said the restoration would strike a “balance between the heritage elements and ensuring that it’s functional as a building”.
He admitted that “cost-wise”, it may have been easier to demolish the school and build something from scratch, but that would eliminate part of Rāpaki’s history.
“It’s got lots of special memories for people who live here or elsewhere in Canterbury, or around the country, whose grandparents or great-grandparents or great-great-grandparents went to the school.”
Of the cost, $400,000 has been contributed by the Christchurch City Council heritage fund, Parkinson Memorial Trust, Heritage New Zealand, Rata Foundation and Lottery community facilities committee. Ngāti Wheke is now appealing to the public to help raise the final $300,000.
“It’s about maintaining a 19th-century building – and there aren’t many of those left post-earthquake around Christchurch,” Scott said. Donations can be made at christchurchfoundation.org.nz/giving/project/rapaki-school.