Sacred Heart Cathedral to be restored and strengthened
Hon Grant Robertson
Minister of Finance
Associate Minister for Arts Culture and Heritage
PĀNUI PĀPĀHO
MEDIA STATEMENT
24 July 2020
Sacred Heart Cathedral to be restored and strengthened
Almost 300 construction jobs will be created with work getting underway on the restoration and strengthening of the Metropolitan Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Wellington.
Grant Robertson says the cathedral was closed in July 2018 due to seismic risk and over the past two years planning on work to strengthen and renovate the interior and exterior of the Cathedral, so it can be used by the community again.
“This project is ready to go right now. The Government is putting $8.5 million towards the project which meets all the criteria for funding under the $3 billion infrastructure fund announced at Budget 2020.
“The restoration is expected to take about three years and once complete will see this Category 1 Historic Place once again available for the Wellington community to use.
“The cathedral is not only widely used by the Catholic congregation but also by the public as a performance space because of its globally acclaimed acoustics. It is also a tourist attraction because of its architectural merits,” Grant Robertson said.
The project is getting under way now and has all the approvals it needs up to and including stage 3 of the project. Stages 4 and 5 will be shovel ready by March 2023, following immediately on from the completion of stages 1-3.
The funding for the project comes from the $3 billion tagged contingency set aside in Budget 2020 for infrastructure. Overall, that Budget funding is expected to deliver more than 20,000 jobs across New Zealand and unlock investment with a project value of more than $5 billion.
