Christchurch Arts Centre. Photo: RNZ
Christchurch Arts Centre is an obvious candidate for national historic landmark status, the Christchurch City Council has been told.
The Arts Centre and Heritage New Zealand provided a joint update to the council on Tuesday outlining their plans to designate the centre as an historic landmark.
Work on the necessary documentation was already underway with hopes the proposal could be approved by the end of the year.
Heritage New Zealand southern director Christine Whybrew told the council the process for designation could be expedited.
"These are usually a two-to-three-year process to get through. We're doing this in a single calendar year basically because we can, because the Arts Centre is such an obvious candidate," she said.
"It is the largest and most cohesive collection of Gothic Revival architecture in New Zealand, being the former Canterbury College buildings, but most importantly through sustained adaptive reuse, those buildings have remained functioning for the people of Christchurch, Canterbury and New Zealand, as well as international visitors."
There were several criteria to be eligible for the designation, including identification on the New Zealand Heritage list, owners and registered interests needed to agree to the designation and suitable legal protection for the site.
Whybrew said the public would be notified of the proposal in October and before approval was sought from Arts, Culture and Heritage Minister Paul Goldsmith.
"We can't put a timeline on that because that, of course is up to him and his advisers," she said.
"Once we do have approval, then we'll celebrate. I anticipate that that could happen at the earliest December 2025. It could be longer, but then again that's up to the minister."
The only designated national historic landmark at present was the Waitangi Treaty Grounds in Northland.
A proposal for the National War Memorial in Wellington was with the Heritage Minister.
Work had begun on two further proposals - Oamaru's historic town centre and port in Otago and Kerikeri Basin in Northland.
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