Heritage grants for range of projects

A church, an inner city converted apartment building, prison wall sketches, and a school boarding hostel were among eight restoration projects awarded heritage grants totalling $90,000 this week by the Christchurch City Council’s Heritage Grants and Covenants Committee.

The projects include the protection of prisoners’ pencil sketches on cell walls in the former Addington Prison, conservation and maintenance work on Acland House ( the Christchurch Girls’ High School hostel), repairs and maintenance on the Cashmere Hills Presbyterian Church, and maintenance work on the Highpara Apartments in High Street.

Heritage Grants usually meet between 20 to 40 per cent of the cost of the work, depending on the heritage value of the property as listed in the City Plan. Large grants may be spread over several years.

Just over $27,000 has been granted for conservation work on Acland House. The
house was built around 1893 and was named after the Chairman of the school board when the hostel was established in 1921. The building is a group three listed building in the City Plan.

The committee has granted $3500 to install protective glass in a cell at Addington Prison to cover sketches done by inmates. Addington Prison was built to relieve congestion at the Lyttelton Gaol, the City’s first and only penal institution at the time. It is a good example of a Victorian jail and was constructed in 1872. The jail It is also of significance for its connection to Edward Seager, who was Canterbury’s first police sergeant, Addington Gaol’s first gaoler, and Sunnyside Hospital’s first warden.

The grant follows an earlier one, made in June last year, of $50,000 for internal and external maintenance and restoration work.

A grant of nearly $8000 will be used towards repainting the exterior of the Highpara Apartment building in High Street. The three storey building is one of a number of listed premises on High Street that contribute significantly to the streetscape of this inner city precinct. In the 1980s the first and second floors of the building were converted to residential use, providing 27 warehouse-style apartments.

A commercial building at 68 Manchester has attracted a grant of just over $8,000. The two storey, group-three-listed building was designed by Samuel Farr in 1877 and is one of a number of listed buildings on Manchester Street that contribute to the low- rise classical streetscape of the area.

A grant of $26,000 has been allocated to work on a Cunningham Terrace, Lyttelton, house. The house is an early colonial dwelling built in 1874 for Peter Cunningham, a landowner and grain exporter who was a founder member of the Lyttelton Harbour Board and an original shareholder in the Canterbury Club. The house is an elegant two storey triple gabled timber dwelling with decorative finials and bargeboards. The grant will be used for replacing the roof, exterior painting, and replacing rotted timber.

The Piko Wholefoods building at 229 Kilmore Street is a two storey brick building built in 1905. A grant of $10,000 will be used for maintenance on the brick, stone and timber work.

A grant of nearly $6000 has been approved for work on the Cashmere Hills Presbyterian Church at 2 Macmillan Avenue. The church was designed by Cecil Wood in 1926 and built in 1929 of Port Hills basalt with a slate roof. A substantial amount of the grant will be used towards restoration of five stained glass windows and installation of protective glass shields to the north and east facing windows.


· An important part of the Christchurch City Council’s vision for cultural heritage is the community working together to protect its irreplaceable urban environment, supported by its elected representatives with adequate human and financial resources.

· The vision supports the heritage objectives of the Greater Christchurch Urban Development Strategy, the area’s 35 year plan for growth and land use, which states that “it is important to provide a comprehensive, co-ordinated approach to the protection and conservation of cultural heritage, as growth occurs within greater Christchurch.”