Central City Update: Issue 5 - Autmn 2003
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Central City Projects
The World Famous Canterbury Produce Market
 The new 'World-Famous Canterbury Produce Market" is up and running and proving very
popular with Christchurch people looking for good quality produce direct from the supplier.
The Market is open every Saturday and Sunday morning and early afternoon, on Tuam Street across from the Civic Offices.
Anyone interested in a having a stall at the Market should contact the Market Manager 025 883 276.
"Heart of the City" - Two Day Celebration
The Central City Revitalisation Project is preparing for a celebration of what's new and exciting in the Central City.
The celebration called "Heart of the City" on Friday 16 and Saturday 17 May 2003 is designed to promote the Central City as a great place to live, work and play while highlighting the contribution the Central City makes to a variety of industries both domestically and internationally. The Central City can proudly boast cutting-edge technological advances as well as worldclass entertainment, food, fashion and shopping. "Heart of the City" will also highlight commercial building developments that constantly enhance the Central City.
"Heart of the City" gives people a rare opportunity to go behind the scenes of many of the city's previously hidden treasures and gain an understanding of how some of the Central City's largest and most powerful businesses run.
A programme of events will be in The Press and The Star newspapers, on the Council and Bethere websites (www.ccc.govt.nz, www.bethere.co.nz), from Christchurch City Council Civic Offices, service centres, libraries and at Our City (corner of Oxford Terrace and Worcester Boulevard). Businesses wishing to get involved should ring 365 4203.
What's next for Cathedral Square?
The Christchurch City Council will replace the granite pavers with asphalt
on the road that runs behind the Cathedral. The deterioration of the
roadway and the problem with traction on the surface have been ongoing
concerns and the Council believes this will be the most costeffective
solution. Asphalt is proven to stand
up to the conditions in The Square and the
change in material may also help further define
the road area for pedestrians.
Planning for The
Square in the northwest quadrant is underway
with discussions being held with key
stakeholders. A plan will then be presented to
Council for approval in June and further
consultation will take place.
Lighting improvements throughout The Square
will be completed by the end of June.
Turners and Growers’ site update
As one of the last under-developed areas in the Central City the Turners
and Growers' site presents a significant opportunity for a comprehensive
and visionary development. The Central City Mayoral Forum encouraged
the Council to purchase the land in April 2002 to ensure any new
development of the site would be innovative, sustainable and a great
example to encourage other developments in the Central City.
The working party, appointed by Council to begin the process of
developing the site, will advertise for expressions of interest from
interested parties in the next month. The working party is looking for
plans which include: a park, housing options including student
accommodation and some associated commercial activity, all with a
focus on sustainable design and development.
Potential users of the park are being asked what they would like to see
in a public space on the site. This feedback will be included in an
information pack for potential developers. When developers' proposals
are considered, they will be rated on how well they meet these needs.
Work on a variation to the City Plan is underway. This will result in the
land being rezoned from the present B3 zone to one which will allow
for predominantly residential uses.
Toothbrushes from Santa
 A toothbrush may not seem like the Christmas present most kids would have highest on their list, but a Healthy Christchurch project, funded by the Central City Revitalisation Project and the Mayor's Welfare Fund, ensured that each of the 500 Christmas hampers delivered by the Christchurch Methodist Mission last year contained a toothbrush and toothpaste for all the children in the household (around 800 children altogether). The Winnie-the-Pooh toothbrushes will hopefully encourage children to take care of their teeth, and the attached enrolment form for the School Dental Service will encourage their carers to take them for a check-up.
Tooth decay and related problems are a major issue for many young people in the city. In poorer areas of Christchurch, eight year olds have an average of four seriously decayed teeth, which not only causes considerable pain and discomfort, but also highlights a number of worrying issues regarding nutrition and other health issues.
 Healthy Christchurch, an intersectoral initiative aimed at fostering collaboration to improve health in the city, is supporting a wider oral-health project aimed atgetting free fluoridated milk into schools and preschools.
The toothbrush initiative is a byproduct of this project but hopefully for the children who received the gifts, it was a good incentive to end the sugary delights of Christmas Day by giving their teeth a good clean and continuing the habit all year.
Our New Gallery
The Christchurch Art Gallery
Te Puna o Waiwhetu
Website: www.christchurchartgallery.org.nz
On Saturday 10 May 2003 the Governor-General Dame
Silvia Cartwright, the Prime Minister Helen Clark and Mayor
Garry Moore will join invited guests and the public in the
opening celebrations for the new Christchurch Art Gallery.
After the official opening, held in the Gallery's Sculpture
Garden from 10am -12noon, the public will be invited to
participate in a weekend of events and entertainment which
will include a broad variety of local music, dance and
performance.
The focal point of the weekend will be the gallery itself,
which in addition to the City's permanent collection, will
feature The ‘Allure’ of Light, an exhibition of sixteen 19th
century masterpieces, on loan from the National Gallery of
Victoria. The new gallery is designed to be for everyone
and this is reflected in the selection made for the opening
exhibitions.
The gallery building has four internal exhibition areas on
two levels, totalling nearly 3,000 square metres divided into
12 galleries, plus a 4,000 square metre exterior Sculpture
Garden.
In the build-up to the official opening, the gallery's new
café/restaurant Alchemy will begin trading. Alchemy Café
and Wine Bar is a exciting feature of the new gallery,
introducing activity and entertainment to the foyer, forecourt
and Sculpture Garden at the main entrance to the facility.
Sculpture makes dramatic entrance
Website: www.christchurchartgallery.org.nz
 Another milestone in the completion of the new Christchurch
Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu is the installation of the
monumental entrance sculpture.
Reasons for Voyaging, by local sculptor Graham Bennett,
is located on the corner of Worcester Boulevard and Montreal
Street. The work consists of seven angled stainless steel
poles up to 13 metres tall. Each pole supports an overhead
element operated by motors and digital controls to achieve
subtle movements.
Graham Bennett says Reasons for Voyaging suggests the
great sea voyages across the Pacific, with allusions to
traditional navigational systems, including star maps and
stick charts. On the south face of each pole, sections of
ancient totara gifted by Ngai Tahu provide contrast and
make a further direct reference to the natural world.
"Reasons for Voyaging is a major public art work for the
city," says Curator of Contemporary Art Felicity Milburn.
"Much more than merely a decorative adjunct to the building,
it will provide a welcoming and inclusive gateway for visitors
to the Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu."
The art work, a collaborative effort between Bennett and
gallery architect David Cole, is an aspect of the project that
particularly appealed to Bennett. "It was an interesting
challenge to try and construct shapes and spaces which
exist only as plans, elevations and computer walk-throughs,"
says Bennett. "It has been a demanding aspect but there
are considerable advantages in integrating a sculptural
object into the planning part of a building."
Heritage site reserved
Cambridge Green Reserve
at the Barbadoes/Salisbury
Streets intersection has
been created to provide a
tranquil space along the
Avon River corridor and to
highlight an area of cultural
and historic significance.
The land was purchased in
1995. After the necessary
road stopping procedures,
part of Cambridge Terrace
was removed and a
landscape plan for the
reserve was developed by
Council staff in conjunction
with local iwi and
neighbouring residents'
groups.
The site is an ideal
opportunity for "daylighting"
part of the brick barrel drain
that lies under Salisbury
Street, taking water from a
spring in the St Albans area
(St Mary's Stream) to the Avon River. The sparkling clear water is once again visible as it flows from the historic brick barrel
drain into a pool in the reserve. It then enters the drain again before cascading into the Avon River opposite the Holiday Inn.
The brick construction of the drain is visible through a 'light well' next to the pool.
Ngai Tahu regards this site as extremely significant due to its situation at the junction of the Avon River and St Mary's Stream.
The junction is the site of a former pa of a noted chief, Tautahi, after whom Otautahi/Christchurch is named. The water from St
Mary's Stream was used in blessing the marriage of Tautahi to a Waitaha princess Te Auru in the late 17th or early 18th century,
thus consolidating bonds between families of Kaiapoi and Koukourarata/Port Levy (or, from another perspective, between Ngai
Tahu and Waitaha). The stream has great significance because of the wairua (spirit) of the water and the historical link with the
noble, Tautahi.
St Mary's Stream was piped under Salisbury Street in the early days of European occupation, and this has been a long-standing
grievance to Maori. The diversion and daylighting of the piped water into the reserve, and the City's respect for the site, is seen
as a significant move toward healing the grievance and demonstrating a bond of understanding between the Christchurch City,
Council and Maori. Council staff are working with iwi representatives to mark the importance of this site along with the Firefighters
Reserve site (on the corner of Kilmore and Madras Streets).
Other features of the reserve are a high mound (to reduce traffic noise for those enjoying the reserve), a wide path for cycles
and pedestrians around the perimeter with a narrower, meandering path closer to the river and a mix of native and exotic
plantings.
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