Council Buildings “Must Be Preserved”

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30745, 8 May 1965, Page 1

Council Buildings “Must Be Preserved”

The Canterbury Provincial Council buildings must be preserved—“they are the finest group of historic buildings in New Zealand,” said Mr K. D. Marshall, chairman of the Canterbury branch of the New Zealand Institute of Architects, last evening.

“They are architectural gems in stone and wood—especially the wooden parts, which are a unique expression of the Gothic style in timber,” said Mr Marshall.

Overseas experts have been most impressed by the buildings—for instance, Dr. Nickolaus Pevsner, one of the world’s foremost architectural critics, who described them as “the foremost piece of high Gothic in timber outside Britain.” Under their use by the Crown, the buildings had not been preserved as they should —and it was high time they were handed back to Canterbury, said Mr Marshall. “A significant use must be found for the beautiful buildings,” Mr Marshall said, such as the cultural centre proposed by the Christchurch

School of Instrumental Music.

So long as the buildings were properly and sympathetically used, they would be adequately restored and preserved, Mr Marshall said. “With the wooden buildings in present use by the Department of Agriculture, the original wooden meeting chamber has been used for pingpong and the storage of files,” said Mr Marshall, “and the beautiful courtyard maltreated and abused by the placement of bicycle sheds and lavatories.

“And the delightful stone chimneys—and they are delightful—are under threat of demolition,” he said. Mr Marshall, supported by other members of his committee who called at “The Press” last evening, suggested that the buildings could also be used as a centre in which learned societies and civic groups might have their offices and meeting rooms, a general exhibition

centre- for fine arts, galleries for the Canterbury Society of Arts, a W.E.A. centre, and a venue for open-air drama both on the Avon river bank and within the courtyard. “The courtyard could even well be used as a luncheon centre for city workers, along the lines of the museum court,” said Mr D. E. Donnithorne. Mr Marshall said his branch offered full support and professional advice for any worth-while restoration and use of the Provincial Council buildings, which would restore them as an integral and vital part of the city—as they originally were.