$12m centre set for historic site

Richard Randerson

Construction could start in the Bay of Islands next year on a $12 million memorial centre proposed for one of New Zealand's most important historical sites.

The Marsden Cross at Oihi Bay on the Purerua Peninsula marks the site of the first Christian sermon to be delivered in this country following the landing on Christmas Day in 1814 by the Reverend Samuel Marsden.

He was accompanied on the brig Active by Ngapuhi chief Ruatara, whose Rangihoua Pa overlooked Oihi Bay.

The site saw the first permanent European settlement in New Zealand, the first land sale and the first farm.

The Auckland-based Marsden Cross Trust Board recently bought 18ha in a valley just above and behind the pa site on what is now the privately owned Mataka Station Development.

A foot track leads from there down to the Marsden Cross Reserve.

The purchase follows the trust board's incorporation in 2003 to buy the land adjacent to the reserve to preserve what it describes as "this iconic site for the nation".

It now aims to build a memorial to the nation-forming events at Oihi Bay nearly 200 years ago and have the complex finished well before the bicentenary of Marsden's arrival in 1814.

The trust board wants to raise enough money to build a complex comprising a chapel, meeting hall, curator's lodge and courtyard.

Board chairman and assistant bishop of Auckland Richard Randerson acknowledged that $12 million was a large amount to raise but believed construction could start next year.

The amount included the land purchase cost - "discounted" to the trust board in recognition of what the project represents - and would ensure a world-class standard of buildings that would become a source of pride for New Zealanders, Bishop Randerson said.

About $1.5 million has initially been gifted for the project.

Fundraising starts in February, with the board hoping to raise half the total amount through approaches to prominent New Zealanders.

All New Zealanders will be invited to contribute to the project in a second stage of fundraising.

Bishop Randerson said the board expected the Government to make a contribution as it would be a "national icon".