Opinion: Why the ChristChurch Cathedral is key to the heartbeat of the city

The rubble inside the ChristChruch Cathedral. Photo /Supplied

OPINION:

I have desperately missed the ChristChurch Cathedral in the Square.

For over 10 years it has been broken and off limits, the city has missed its heartbeat.

Now, finally, it is coming back to life.

Yesterday, for the first time since the quakes, I went inside the fence that has sealed the injured neogothic building off from the rest of the world.

Native toetoe grow wildly at the front steps, the creamy plumes wave in the breeze like welcoming pillars.

The closer I got to familiar basalt stone walls, the faster my heart thumped.

Memories quickly flooded back.

Like the wizard preaching atop his stepladder to his captive lunchtime audiences.

The sound of the pipe organ trumpeting proudly at the top of its voice.

The pure notes of the boys' and men's choirs echoing off the natural acoustics of the inner sanctuary.

Outside the reinstatement of the building is in full swing.

Scaffolding cocoons the walls as stonemasons stabilise the stonework and clear away any unsafe masonry.

Watching them work was like witnessing them breathe new life into the deconsecrated church.

The high stone walls will stay, to be pinned and grouted and strengthened on the outside.

The building is slowly being resurrected.

For Christchurch residents, the cathedral has been the focal point for the heart of our city until it came tumbling down and was declared off limits.

I treasure the times my mother took me as a child, together with my two younger brothers, up the tower, climbing and counting the 133 well-worn circular stone steps, and winding past the 13 giant bells to the balcony overlooking the famous square.

I did the same with my own children.

The great news is the tower will return, so too will the bells, the stairs and a new lift to a visitors area.

A new viewing platform will be built.

Inside a remote control digger has started to clear away the rubble that came down in the quake.

In the next couple of months, workmen will return inside and progressively work down the nave and prop up the internal arches and columns.

They will then begin the search of the ruins for fragments of the giant rose window that was shattered in the quake.

By the end of the year our blessed cathedral will, once again, be safe for people to enter.

What progress!

The cathedral is still a crucial organ in the body of Christchurch.

I have missed it.

I am desperately looking forward to its return in 2027

And the heart of our city is finally beating again.