Post-quake Christchurch: the rebuilding of a city
It’s a strange feeling walking through the centre of Christchurch five years after the first of a series of devastating earthquakes that rocked the New Zealand city.
Grass and weeds grow amid the gravel on vacant blocks where damaged shops, cafes, offices and other premises have been demolished.
Many buildings still sit crumbling, as if it was only recently that the earth rumbled and tore their foundations. Some are awaiting demolition or repairs; others remain in limbo as debate continues over their fate.
Meanwhile, tall fences, road cones and warning signs ensure they are given a wide berth. In some places, coloured shipping containers are stacked against a single, still-standing wall to ensure it doesn’t succumb to gravity.
Visitors might feel like they have been catapulted onto the scene of a dystopian film – were it not for the fact that there are also signs everywhere of resilience and renewal in this area which was known as “the red zone” and cordoned off to the public until mid-2013.
Now, the city centre is being almost completely rebuilt following the earthquakes which claimed 185 lives. And amid the cranes and construction sites are new state-of-the-art buildings, quirky pop-ups, cheeky street art, “gap filler” projects, a colourful container mall, and interesting places to eat and drink.
This fresh, emerging Christchurch is full of colour and creativity. For visitors, it is a rare opportunity to witness a complete urban transformation.
One way to explore the city is with the Rebuild Tour, a 90-minute bus tour which runs seven days a week and visits key sites, with commentary about Christchurch’s history, the earthquakes, transitional projects and plans for the future.
The restored heritage tram – which operates more as a tourist attraction than a mode of transport for residents – also resumed operating towards the end of last year and stops at 17 attractions, including Cathedral Square, the Avon River (where you can go punting), and the Museum and Botanic Gardens.
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Or you can simply wander the city by foot.
Having previously lived in Christchurch, this was the option I chose, yet the loss of so many once-familiar landmarks proved more disorientating than expected. It was also confronting: so much beautiful heritage, lost.
First stop was C1 Espresso café, which reopened almost a year ago in what was once the site of the old High Street Post Office and now also houses a boutique video store and movie theatre (Alice in Videoland). The coffee and food are good, but C1 is also notable for its eccentric fit-out, including a bookshelf that doubles as a door to the bathrooms, an old Singer sewing machine that serves as a water dispenser, and a pneumatic tube which delivers containers full of hot chips.
From here, we walked towards Cathedral Square – stopping off along the way to check out a pop-up exhibition in shipping containers of images from the New Zealand Geographic Photographer of the Year competition.
The square is the city centre-point and, before the earthquakes, it was a busy hub surrounded by bars, cafes, shops, offices and banks, overlooked by the gothic Christchurch Cathedral. Sadly, most are now either gone, going or still undergoing repairs. The early-1900s, perpendicular Gothic-style Press building, in which I once worked, is among those demolished after it was badly damaged in the February 2011 earthquake.
Information boards featuring pre-quake photos give an impression of what the square used to look like.
Debate continues over whether the badly damaged Cathedral, now surrounded by a painted cardboard fence, will be rebuilt or demolished. Meanwhile, you can visit the Transitional Cathedral, made of cardboard and designed by Japanese architect Shigeru Ban, several blocks away in Latimer Square.
One building that has been beautifully restored is the Isaac Theatre Royal – known as the “grand old lady” of Canterbury theatre. It was rebuilt from façade to Proscenium arch for a total cost was around $40 million, thanks to generous donations, which gives some idea of the cost of retaining the city’s treasures.
Around the corner from the theatre is New Regent Street, a heritage streetscape of pastel-coloured, Spanish Mission-style buildings which reopened in April this year after extensive restoration. It houses a collection of boutique businesses and cafes, including a craft beer and cocktail bar, and an intimate whisky bar named The Last Word.
Everywhere we look, in every corner of the city centre, are both random and not-so-random acts of art: colourful “traffic sheep” installations, complete with reflective strips; a giant sofa and table covered in artificial grass; a 3.5m-high sculpture of a blue-suited man on a rooftop; bold street art covering walls and fences.
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The Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu, whose permanent home (a stunning modern glass and metal building) is expected to re-open next year, is presenting photographed and enlarged billboard versions of portraits from its collection in empty spaces such as vacant lots, broken buildings and newly exposed walls.
Eventually, after more coffee, we wind our way back across the city to Cashel Street’s Re-START Mall – a complex of shops and cafes in brightly painted shipping containers which was one of the first initiatives to try to lure people back to the centre following the earthquakes. Some of the stores are a little touristy, but there are gems, including Scorpio Books, Hapa designer gift store, and Johnson’s Grocery, a family-owned shop selling an eclectic range of international grocery items.
Re-START also houses Quake City, a “multi-sensory attraction” which informs and educates visitors about the Canterbury earthquakes.
Many Australians may assume that five years on, it is once more business as usual in Christchurch. It isn’t. Progress has certainly been made in the past couple of years, but much more work remains; some locals believe it could be decades before the rebuild is completely finished.
Local newspapers still carry daily stories about residents fighting for compensation or refusing to leave red-stickered homes; of debate over which heritage buildings should be saved and which demolished; over legal claims regarding dodgy repair work.
But there is also optimism in reports about plans for the city’s future, including proposed new buildings and other facilities incorporating cutting-edge design and earthquake-resistant features.
Tourism will be a key part of that future. But even now, there are plenty of reasons for visitors to linger and explore the city – to witness the energy, innovation and creativity emerging from the rubble.
Other activities
There is also plenty to see and do outside of Christchurch’s city centre. Visit The Tannery, a boutique shopping, restaurant and bar complex housed on a former tannery site in the suburb of Heathcote; take the 20-minute drive to the scenic port of Lyttelton, home to a range of artisan stores and quirky bars and cafes reflecting the city’s colonial heritage; check out the summer sessions at recently opened four-bar venue Dux Central; ride the Gondola for 360-degree views over the city; or wander through the Botanic Gardens and enjoy lunch in the café of the new multi-purpose contemporary glass visitor centre.
More information
You can learn more about Christchurch here, and find up-to-date information about hot spots to eat, drink and shop on the cityscape website. Those interested in the plans for the city’s future will find information and artists’ impressions on the Future Christchurch – Greater Canterbury site.
Getting there
Air New Zealand flies direct from Adelaide to Auckland, with connecting flights to Christchurch. But for Adelaideans not wishing to visit the North Island, the easiest option is generally to fly via Melbourne.
Suzie Keen grew up near Christchurch and worked as a journalist for six years at The Press, in Cathedral Square, in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
