Safety first for Sacred Heart

DML Builders foreman Graeme Staite (left), apprentice Mark Audain (centre) and conservation architect Antony Matthews were making one last check of the exterior before the scaffolding came off the Sacred Heart chapel yesterday. Photo/Rae Cliffe

On time and on budget, the contract to earthquake-strengthen the historic Sacred Heart chapel in Wanganui is done and dusted.

Yesterday a final inspection was made of the near-century old building which is part of the Jane Winstone retirement village on St John's Hill and by late morning workers had started taking down the scaffolding around the exterior. The final phase is landscaping, and that work starts within a day or two.

In March last year Ryman Healthcare, which owns the village, announced it was spending $1 million on quake-proofing the chapel and a contract was let to local company DML Builders.

The chapel was built in 1918 but was closed in 2012 when it was found to be an earthquake risk.

Simon Challies, chief executive of Ryman Healthcare, said prior to the upgrade the chapel was rated at less than 15 per cent of the current building standards and acknowledged its future posed a "real dilemma" for the company.

But Mr Challies said Ryman was well aware of the chapel's place in the Wanganui community, with the village residents and with the Sisters of St Joseph who ran Sacred Heart College on the site before the school closed.

He said while the cost of the job was a major financial commitment the company had made a promise to the sisters the chapel would stay. And it would bring the building up to 75 per cent or more of the earthquake strength required by new buildings.

Dave Corney, owner of DML Builders, said the work had been a "brilliant learning curve" for some of the younger staff working on the project.

But Mr Corney said for the senior staff it was a matter of going back to old-school building techniques.

"This is how we built 30 years ago, okay, so if we were building a high-rise in town it would be built similar to this," he said.

The contract meant all the external buttresses were removed and replaced with new ones that go 5m into the ground. As well there was significant strengthening carried out inside the building.

"Inside there's some new structural steel, along with a plywood diaphragm and some new in-situ beams.

"But none of this work has changed the character of the chapel at all because most of it's hidden." He said there were no major issues with the job.

"The guys were a bit dubious at first when it came to taking the columns off but it stayed together. It was just a matter of getting stuck into it."

All that remains now is to give the outside of the building a final wash and then the landscaping will complete the restoration project.

Mr Corney and Auckland conservation architect Antony Matthews gave the chapel a final once-over yesterday.