Funds Not Available For Restoration

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31596, 6 February 1968, Page 11

Funds Not Available For Restoration

The historic Canterbury Provincial Council Buildings need $lOO,OOO worth of restoration work, but, as yet, there is not the money available for the job.

The Government has made It clear that it cannot, under present economic conditions, find this sum of money. A meeting of Christchurch local bodies will therefore be called to find ways of saving the buildings, according to Mr R. M. Maefarlane, M.P., chairman of the Canterbury Provincial Buildings Board. Several years ago the Government gave $30,000 for restoration work, Mr Maefarlane said, the last $lOOO coming to charge soon. Another $OO5O, however, has been granted by the Government, which will be spent this year on strengthening chimneys, and the removal of stone chimneys, capping, and other work considered a public risk. Restoration of. $lOO,OOO

But further general restoration on the buildings is estimated at $lOO,OOO by the District Architect of the Ministry of Works (Mr R. M. Abel). “Roofs and perished stone work require a great deal of work,” he said. “It is caused by old age: general deterioration.

“If maintenance work is left long enough it becomes urgent The longer the work is deferred, the worse it will become,” Mr Abel said. Work on previous restoration was carried out by the Ministry of Works. Mr Maefarlane said the

Government had made it clear that it could not find the $lOO,OOO needed for restoration work, under the present economic conditions.

The position will be outlined at the meeting of local bodies, which Mr Maefarlane hopes will be attended by the Minister of Lands (Mr Maclntyre). “I think we can hope the Government might be able to find some of the money, but it will be up to Canterbury to find the rest,” Mr Macfarlane said.

Describing the deterioration as “very extensive,” Mr Macfarlane said some of the work was urgent, and that he would like to see full restoration of the buildings completed within the next few years. 100 Years Old The Provincial Council Buildings are a little more than 100 years old, the main stone council chamber having been opened in November, 1865. The total cost of the buildings was, in those days, f 40.000.

The Canterbury Provincial Buildings Board, which was set up in 1928, has the entire responsibility for their upkeep. The Canterbury branch of the New Zealand Institute of Architects has, on a previous occasion, publicly declared that the buildings must be preserved, describing them as “the finest group of historic buildings in New Zealand .. .

architectural gems in stone and wood.” It has offered full support and professional advice for any worth-while restoration and use of the buildings.