Chapel fate rests on grading

Press, 22 July 1989, Page 1

Chapel fate rests on grading

By

DEBORAH McPHERSON

The fate of Christchurch Hospital’s Nurses’ Memorial Chapel may hinge on a Historic Places Trust decision.

The chapel was reclassified by the trust at a meeting in Wellington on Thursday, but its decision will be kept secret until it has notified the Canterbury Area Health Board early next week. If the building has been moved from its C grading to an A or B grading, the trust will be able to apply to the Minister of Con-

servation for a preservation order.

The trust’s regional officer in Christchurch, Mrs Pam Wilson, said she did not know what the new classification was.

A spokeswoman for the trust’s national office said the board should find out the decision early next week, but she could not be specific. The board’s general manager, Mr Ron Parker, said it had not heard anything from the trust late yesterday afternoon.

He preferred not to comment until the board knew the decision.

The chapel will be demolished under the board’s plans for its Stage Three development of the hospital. Parts of its interior would be relocated to the new chapel in the redevelopment. Any preservation order could be contested by the building’s owner or the local authority, said Mrs Wilson. Objections would have to be heard by the Town Planning Tribunal.

But she said she was sure it would “not be a great challenge for any competent architect to design plans that could include the present chapel and make provision for the needs of patients.” The Friends of the Chapel have put forward a plan to preserve the chapel and create a historic reserve around it to be administered by the Christchurch City Council. The Friends would form a trust to look after the chapel.