Heritage Alert Christchurch

Lessons from the quake

2010-09-09T01:35:00.000-07:00

The devastating quake which hit Christchurch and large parts of rural Canterbury has demonstrated how unprepared the New Zealand Historic Places Trust has been to deal with the emergency. Local staff members are being worked off their feet to help with assessment of damage to heritage buildings, but with the best will in the world they cannot cover enough ground. They

2010-06-06T14:10:00.000-07:00

The recent announcement that Jen Crawford has been appointed to the Arts Centre Trust Board was both surprising and disturbing. Those who were involved in the recent resource management hearings will be aware that she was the lawyer representing the applicants for the proposed music school. Her appointment has all the appearance of stacking the Board with yet another

More changes at the Arts Centre

2010-05-02T02:13:00.000-07:00

The Arts Centre Trust Board seems determined to change the Arts Centre as we know it. The latest announcement is the news that stall holders have been told they must move from market square within six months to make way for car parking. It was always obvious that if the music school was given the go-ahead, some stallholders and the food vendors would have to move. It was also clear that if the

Arts Centre related blogs

2010-01-21T22:28:00.000-08:00

I recently came across an excellent blog on the history of the Arts Centre. Anyone who has a general interest in the Arts Centre should certainly visit the site, which includes newspaper articles about the buildings from the Star in the 1870s and 1880s. Click here Also visit Canterbury Heritage for another perspective. This blog, like the previous one, will be of general interest to anyone

Money squandered to no effect

2009-12-18T10:14:00.000-08:00

The large advertisement in the Press today (19 December 2009) asking people to view the model of the proposed Music School building at the Art Gallery, prompts me to ask just how much the University is spending on continuing to promote a cause which the overwhelming majority of Christchurch residents have proclaimed loudly and clearly that they do not want on this site. Today's advertisement is

Disharmony in the city.

2009-12-02T01:51:00.000-08:00

Events relating to the proposed music school are heating up. First there was the announcement by the applicants that they were delaying the resource consent until February out of concern for the opposition, to give them adequate time to prepare their case. Not very convincing, considering that the filing of the resource consent application had been timed to maximise inconvenience to opponents.

Archive of radio and television interviews

2009-11-29T16:06:00.000-08:00

25 August 2009 Mike Yardley Interview With Dr Rod Carr Part 1 . General discussion on the University. Mike Yardley Interview with Dr Rod Carr.Part 2 The Music Conservatorium. Interview with Rod Carr Part 3http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUeJJ7OAbacOctober 12 2009 Mike Yardley interview with Richard Sinke and Elric Hooper Part 1http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNtnKU5MfNsPart 2http://

Kim Hill interview with Dr Carr

2009-11-27T13:25:00.000-08:00

In a recent interview on National Radio with Kim Hill, Dr Carr stated that the music school proposal has "stirred up a few people" whom he claims "repeat the same arguments numerous times and shrieking louder doesn't make them better or different arguments."Leaving aside for the moment the false claim that only a "few" people are concerned, I find the accusation that the same arguments are

A Bedtime Story - A Cautionary Canterbury Tale.

2009-10-16T03:15:00.000-07:00

A Heritage Alert reader has submitted the following Canterbury Tale or should I say a "Grimm" tale. Canterbury University had a problem. Their music school was too small and too noisy and run down. It lacked modern facilities for its performance students and it needed a new home. There was plenty of space to build a new school and conservatorium on their very own land at Ilam, but the

Naming Games

2009-10-06T18:33:00.000-07:00

It appears from the resource consent application, that the Arts Centre has undergone a name change. It is no longer referred to as the Arts Centre or the Arts Centre of Christchurch but the Arts Centre Campus. Who authorised this change? Is it an Arts Centre Trust Board policy? Where was the public discussion of the issue? I wonder how the non-university tenants of the site feel about this

Car Parking Questions.

2009-10-06T17:25:00.000-07:00

At various times we have been told there will be 78 car parks associated with the music school site and that the Council would have 40 of these. Now it seems there will only be 41 parks, directly under the building. The area under the quadrangle contains no parking spaces according to the plans lodged with the Resource Consent Application. The exits from the parking area appear to be internal

Playing with numbers

2009-09-28T18:41:00.000-07:00

The University keeps telling us that the School of Music currently has 300 students ( or 119.4 EFTS). This is completely misleading. We have also been told that the stage 1 will continue to be taught at the university and anyone who has any familiarity at all with universities, knows that stage one courses have by far the greatest numbers of students. At a recent public meeting, Professor

Misleading images?

2009-09-10T21:26:00.000-07:00

Professor Ken Strongman, Assistant Vice-Chancellor ( Government and Community Relations) at the University of Canterbury stated in The Press (8/9/09) that a misleading image is being reproduced which is known to be no longer representative of the proposed building (see above). A new image was submitted which is said to reflect the street profile and incorporate

Capturing the passing crowd

2009-09-02T03:14:00.000-07:00

The University in its publicity makes a great deal of the 800,000 visits made to the Canterbury Museum and surrounding area each year by out-of-town visitors. We are told it is this passing crowd, as much as the citizens of Christchurch, that they want to expose to the talent within the music programme. Apparently, this would not be possible with a building anywhere other than the Arts

A response to Mr Ballantyne

2009-08-16T02:48:00.000-07:00

I am sure that no-one would disagree with Mr Ballantyne's concern at the decline of the city centre and the need for greater commercial, social, and cultural activity to help ensure that derelict spaces are used more productively. Empty spaces blight too many areas of the city, particulary in the south-east quadrant. Yet it is difficult to see how introducing a new activity into an area which is

Council Officer's Report: Analysis or Propaganda?

2009-08-07T04:43:00.001-07:00

The report to Council on the University of Canterbury National Conservatorium of Music ( PDF downloadable from http://www.soac.org.nz/ccc-green-light.phpsee) makes disturbing reading and raises serious concerns about Council processes and the quality of the information on which its decision-making is based. If we assume that the Council officer who prepared it was not incompetent, then it

In support of the plane trees

2009-07-30T03:35:00.000-07:00

I am tired of hearing from those with a vested interest in the proposed music school about the boiler house and the dreary and windy car park with a southerly aspect. Whoever sits outside in Christchurch during a southerly anyway! And I know of no-one who is arguing for retention of the boiler house. Undoubtedly, the area has a rather neglected aspect at present and it

Consultation Contradictions

2009-07-29T19:02:00.000-07:00

Dr Carr has stated on several occasions in public that the University does not want to intrude where it is not wanted. In a statement on the University website following the recent Council meeting he reiterated this point and went on to add " it makes sense for the University to hear and understand the views of the community."(http://www.comsdev.canterbury.ac.nz/news/2009/090723a.shtml) It is

Rates neutrality of project queried.

2009-07-27T03:20:00.000-07:00

Both the University and the City Council have been at pains to point out over and over that the ratepayers will not have to pay for the proposed music building. Let us examine that proposition a little more closely. No doubt it is true that the university will repay the costs over time through its lease payments and to that extent, it will be rates neutral. But if the Council is to be

National School of Music Alive and Well!

2009-07-21T03:53:00.000-07:00

An advertisement in The Press (20 July 2009) poses the question: Isn't there already a National School of Music in Wellington? Dr Carr responds that the " joint venture between Massey and Victoria universities has been deferred until 2013, with the cost of its proposed building estimated to be about $60 million. Our proposal is nowhere near as expensive and represents an opportunity for

Urban Design Panel Flawed

2009-07-19T03:27:00.000-07:00

The University argues in an advertisement in The Press (18 July) that the Music School building is suitable for the site because the plans have been approved by the Urban Design Panel, the Historic Places Trust, and the Arts Centre Trust Board. The Arts Centre Trust Board is clearly not a disinterested party. The view of the Urban Design Panel should be treated with scepticism. This panel does

Cheaper to build on campus

2009-07-14T02:48:00.000-07:00

It is claimed that building a new music school at the Arts Centre will cost no more than building at Ilam. This quite simply does not stack up. In order to build at the Arts Centre, the university is committing itself to pay a ground rental for as long as it uses the building. This is not required on its own campus. In addition, resource management costs will inevitably be much greater on this

New Quadrangle Not needed

2009-07-14T02:27:00.000-07:00

One of the benefits claimed for building the Music School on the Hereford St carpark site is the creation of a new sheltered quadrangle between the heritage buildings and the new building. The prospect of a new quadrangle has a superficial appeal until confronted with the reality of the new building which will overlook it. The watercolour which was illustrated in The Press downplays the sheer

Why is only one area of the city suitable for a Conservatorium?

2009-07-10T04:22:00.000-07:00

The university believes that its vision of a National Conservatorium of Music will succeed at the Arts Centre but is less likely to succeed at Ilam because it would be difficult to attract staff of sufficient renown there. But whether the conservatorium is located on the Ilam campus or at the Arts Centre is surely not going to be the critical factor in attracting quality staff. Most teachers of

Music building in city centre not necessary

2009-07-10T01:40:00.000-07:00

We are told that performance students need audiences. No-one would disagree with that. The problem comes in being asked to believe that they will only have audiences if they are at the Arts Centre. Much is made of the 800 000 visits made each year to the Museum and surrounding area by out-of town visitors. This passing crowd, it is said, would only be exposed to the talent in the music programme

Arts Centre not gifted for heritage says Vice-Chancellor!

2009-07-10T01:38:00.000-07:00

The Vice-Chancellor of the University, Dr Rod Carr stated in the Press of July 3rd that the University did not gift the buildings to be a heritage site or a museum of neo-Gothic architecture. No-one is claiming museum status for the site, but its heritage status is undeniable, recognised both in the City Plan and by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust. Whether the University deemed it a

National Conservatorium of Music at the Arts Centre

2009-06-30T21:00:00.000-07:00

It is surprising that such a major change to the Arts Centre as the proposed National Conservatorium of Music building for the Hereford Street carpark area should be presented to the public as a fully-fledged plan without any prior public discussion having taken place as to whether this is a suitable use for the site. The Arts Centre is a dearly loved cultural and heritage asset and it must have