CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand (PA) – The Cathedral of Christ Church was arguably the most iconic building in New Zealand before much of it collapsed in an earthquake 10 years ago. The years of debate that followed whether the ruins should be rebuilt or demolished came to symbolize the paralysis that sometimes affected the wider reconstruction of Christchurch.
As Monday marks a decade since the quake struck, killing 185 people and raising countless lives, there are finally signs of progress on the cathedral.
It is rebuilt to look a lot like the original that was finished in 1904, only with modern improvements to make it warmer and safer, even to add much-needed additional bathrooms. But first, the workers must stabilize the remnants.
Peter Carrell, the Anglican bishop of Christchurch, said reopening it would be a key step.
“I think it will be extremely significant, because it will be one of the final pieces of the puzzle to put Christchurch back in place,” Carrell said. “It will be a healing of the Christchurch heart after the earthquake.”
However, the doors are not expected to open for another six years. Preserving what is left is more expensive and time consuming than demolition and resumption. And so far, the mix of funds from insurance, churches, council and government sources adds up to just about two-thirds of New Zealand’s $ 154 million ($ 111 million) price.
Keith Paterson, the project’s director, said the goal is for a fundraising team to raise the rest of the money from local and international donors.
“We are very confident that we will receive the money until the project is completed,” Carrell said. “We have enough money to get started.”
Elsewhere in the city, bright new buildings are emerging, along with innovative playgrounds and parks. But where some buildings once stood, there are now only empty parking spaces, and the migration of shops and businesses to the suburbs that took place after the earthquake has not yet been completely reversed.
There is also a disparity in neighborhoods. Parts of the city to the west look the same as before the earthquake. But in the east, where the land was prone to liquefaction, entire suburbs were destroyed.
Authorities considered the ground too unstable for reconstruction. Some suburbs now look like huge parks, with a few fruit trees and power lines the only sign that the houses were once there.
Richard Cosgrove’s house on the River Avon in Dallington was demolished. The communications adviser recalls the enormous forces that took place during the earthquake.
“The whole area sank massively,” he said. “I built a wooden villa in 1922. Basically, the four corners went in separate directions.”
Cosgrove said the strong community ties that formed as neighbors tried to save their homes and work to improve the area ended when the government declared it unsafe for reconstruction.
“That destroyed the community,” he said.
Cosgrove and his wife now live outside the city on a small farm.
“We thought that if we moved anywhere else in the city, it would remind us of what we lost, so we decided to build a new life in the country,” he said.
But he remains optimistic about Christchurch and its future. He said that the adversity he suffered gathered the community and made it stronger and more resilient, and that many of the foreign workers who came to help with the reconstruction were so impressed that they remained.
“We have a really great city,” Cosgrove said. “It’s a pretty impressive rebuild that has continued. I think about all the great things they did. ”
However, he says, it would have been nice if everything had happened a little earlier.