Plan for old Normal School

Press, 29 March 1979, Page 3

Plan for old Normal School

The Christchurch Civic Trust wants the Normal School building turned int- a tavern-restaurant, shops, and apartments. The trust suggests this in a report prepared for the Commissioner of Crown Lands at his request, and which will be presented to him this week. The commissioner will decide the fate of the former school, which is one of the oldest stone buildings in Christchurch. It has become an eqrthquake hazard since it was va-

cated by the Teachers’ College in 1971, and indecision about its future has resulted in considerable deterioration in the building from the weather and vandals. The trust proposes that the building be converted into 20 apartments, 10 on the ground floor and 10 on the first floor; a tavern and restaurant of 320 square metres; a craft shop; and a “green shop.” The latter is described as a multi-purpose shop that could be a combination of florist, herb

shop, pot-plant shop, limited nursery, and even garden equipment and furniture, and a consulting service for landscaping and garden design. The trust suggests that the tavern and restaurant would have two areas for two different styles of dining and that the small house ‘in the grounds could be a general refreshment shop or dairy. The report estimates that this use would bring in an annual rental of $82,680 for the building, which has been valued at $550,000. However, it says

that unless the Government is prepared to ‘‘donate” the building, the economics would be difficult to justify. Another avenue of finance suggested by the trust is that the Christchurch City Council, having designated the building in the District Scheme, could make a capital injection each year for a few years to buy the site outright. A similar process is being done to finance the restoration of the Old Stone House at Cashmere, the trust says.