New Crematorium Opens This Month

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30108, 17 April 1963, Page 17

New Crematorium Opens This Month

Canterbury's second crematorium will be officially opened at Johns road. Harewood. on Sunday, April 28. at 2.30 p.m. by the Minister of Finance. Mr Lake. The Bishop of Christchurch (the Rt. Rev. A. K. Warren) will dedicate the building along with ministers of other denominations. Situated six miles and a half from Cathedral square, it will be named the Memorial Carden Crematorium.

A crematorium trustee. Mr David Smit’ last evening said the new crematorium would be available for cremations the day after the opening.

Carpenters were busy putting the finishing touches to the chapel. He said that with upwards of 2500 deaths a year in Christchurch and the population increasing rapidly, there was an urgent need for a second crematorium in Canterbury. Already there were about 1500 cremations a year in Christchurch. The population growth in the Harewood area, where the new crematorium was located, was estimated to have the highest ratio of any municipal area in New Zealand for the next 10 years. It was estimated that the Harewood area population would increase by more than 10 per cent, a year. Already the greater, proportion of the population of Christchurch tended to live in the northwest area, between the Main North road and Riccarton road. Mr Smith said that the new crematorium was also expected to cater for people from areas outside Christchurch where there were no crematoriums, such as Timaru. Ashburton. Rangiora and Kaiapoi. Of modern design, the crematorium incorporates a chapel with a striking V shape roof that has the appearance of a butterfly with outstretched wtogs.

Towering above the roof is a pre-stressed, pre-cast concrete fin that provides a contrast to the white concrete walls of two courtyards that edge the chapel building below. The essence of the design is a narrow garden walled on three sides in the shape of an extended U giving the necessary seclusion and quiet. The chapel crosses the width of the U about two-thirds along its length Its front and back walls are garden walls and its sides are full glazed, so that the chapel and garden are visually integrated. The crematorium set amid five acres of grass lawns that will be converted into parkland, will not have any headstones. Instead, it wil loffer three basic methods of disposal of ashes. These are interment in a court of roses: scattering in a memorial garden, or the returning of ashes to next-of-kin. The trustees of the crema, torium also plan to develop immediately five courts, each to commemorate a special field of human endeavour. The ashes of any person can be scattered in the courtyard representing the particular field of endeavour they were

most closely associated with. For example ,a musicians' court will commemorate Musicians and lovers of music and a Peter Pan court will commemorate children, lovers of children and those with a long association with children, such as kindergarten teachers.

The main courts adjacent or close to the chapel building itself will have special names such as "The Court of Sparkling Waters,” “The Court of Many Blessings," and “The Court of Roses.” Other predominant features of the crematorium incluude a 2ft deep pool in a formal garden, west of the chapel building where lilies and water plants will be grown and a chapel entrance of broad wooden doors that can be opened wide to allow larger attendances at services.

Glass walls on either side of the chapel enable those inside to look out on to the courtyard gardens. Sun baffles, neatly fitted, provide a pattern contrast of light and shadow on sunny days. The roof of the chapel is supported on four darkstained Oregon trusses with members arranged in the form of a fan. The method of committal of the casket at the crematorium will be the gradual lowering of the coffin into the catafalque. Mr Smith said that though there would be no headstones at the crematorium, persons who wished to do so would have the opportunity to contribute with sculpture or other memorial items such as seating, shrubbery or trees.

The broad aims of the new crematorium were to meet as many of the wishes of the public as possible, according to their personal tastes.

Ministers officiating at the crematorium would be those chosen by the next-of-kin. Mr Smith said that with the opening of Memorial Garden Crematorium he expected that there would be a greater tendency in Christchurch for the public to have their first, and only, funeral service at the crematorium chapel. This would mean that mourners would be able to proceed direct to the chapel, instead of going to another church service first. The attractiveness of the crematorium chapel would encourage the one-service funeral.

The present crematorium in Christchurch, is situated in Bromley, in the south-east corner of the city.

The architects are Warren and Mahoney.