Letters: Cathedral only benefits Christchurch churchgoers

I just cannot let C C MacDowall's letter (July 11) go unanswered. I am too much of a Philistine.

First of all the Eiffel Tower was built for the benefit of all the French people and has a proven track record being visited by millions of paying - yes, paying people every year!

What do they charge visitors at ChristChurch Cathedral, and how many people does it attract? The Eiffel Tower is the highest-grossing tourist attraction in the world and is visited by people of every known race and religion. It benefits France by a staggering degree.

The ChristChurch Cathedral is there for the sole benefit of Christchurch and the handful of churchgoers it accommodates; it probably attracts more people in its present state than it ever did before - something like the Roman remains at Pompeii! New Zealand cannot afford to waste any money on it.

JIM ADAMS
Rotorua

Water at bay
As Lake Okareka reaches out on to its flood plain and defies the limits set by its resource consent, we may look back a thousand years to King Canute who set up his throne at low tide to show flatterers that the sea did not obey royal orders to stay out.

MARK COLLET
Rotorua

Museum upgrade
Accepting most of the museum is well below current earthquake standards is one thing.

However, are there innovative ways to upgrade it? Let's make sure council doesn't ignore alternatives. For example old foundations could be propped up with "mini" piles and, although I understand not yet used for seismic strengthening, there are now systems whereby composite materials can be stuck on the surface of old walls to strengthen them.

This is being done to increase strength to absorb bomb blasts and surely it would also work for earthquake strengthening.

Council must now put the issue out to the international engineering community to seek the most cost effective solutions and avoid the museum falling gradually into disrepair as is still happening with the ChristChurch Cathedral.

ROGER LOVELESS
Rotorua