Knox Church to Host Awards Ceremony - Canterbury Heritage Awards

CHRISTCHURCH HERITAGE AWARDS CHARITABLE TRUST – ON PAUSE

The Christchurch Heritage Awards Charitable Trust celebrated its 10^th anniversary in June 2021. Over this time the Trust, in conjunction with its family of sponsors and supporters, has witnessed outstanding success of this biennial event. Each event attracted a diverse and exciting range of entries from cabins to mansions, from small to large commercial and public buildings, from rural to urban structures and country houses and the best of the best new builds as heritage of the future. The events were occasions where networking of like-minded heritage advocates and professionals from around Canterbury came together in celebration of this important social event.

The Awards were initiated by myself in 2010 and have been run as a not for profit trust. Their success can be attributed to invaluable sponsorship from several key businesses and organisations over the past 12 years. As the awards are totally reliant on sponsorship it has been increasingly difficult to continue without it. Therefore, the decision has been made to pause the awards for the time being. We are deeply appreciative of the support our previous sponsors have shown and understand entirely that in some cases their time has come to stand aside for others to step up and show the support required to run future awards.

This means a long-term pause for the Canterbury Heritage Awards, as we, the trustees, take time to re-think and re-imagine the awards in a manner that enables a sustainable future and of recognising those who have contributed to the protection and future of historic heritage in Canterbury.

Expressions of interest to support a future event as a key sponsor are invited. Please call Geoff Bone (Event Convener) on 0274 858 185 if you wish to know more.

So, in the meantime, on behalf of the trustees, keep up the good work. You have all either individually or collectively been complicit in keeping our history alive, to be remembered and cherished.

With kind regards
Dame Anna Crighton
DNZM, QSO, JP, PhD(Otago)

September 2022

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Event organisers are excited to announce that Knox Presbyterian Church will host the 2014 Vero Canterbury Heritage Awards Ceremony.

The Awards Ceremony will be one of the first events to be held in the reconstructed Church ahead of its official reopening on November 30, which coincides with Advent and St Andrew’s Day.

The 1902 Church was badly damaged in the September 2010 and February 2011 earthquakes, resulting in the tall brick gabled walls suffering major failure.

Unlike most church buildings that have roofs bearing on load bearing walls, Knox Church was able to be saved thanks to independent timber post structures supporting a lightweight iron roof. The mostly intact rich timber arched interior structure has been able to be retained and is complimented by a striking new exterior featuring copper panels and interesting new windows. The Church’s Parish have raised $5.5million to fund the reconstruction.

Geoff Bone, Event Director for the Awards says it’s a fitting venue for the Awards Ceremony.

“Not only is Knox Presbyterian Church an entrant in the Awards this year, it’s also a beacon of hope for the city. It’s fantastic to see an iconic Church restored and reconstructed in such a way that honours both the old and the new.”

“The Church is looking fantastic and is a real testament to those that have raised so much money to see it reconstructed in such a beautiful style. It’s an honour to be able to host one of the first events in this building and we’re looking forward to seeing the finished product.”

Bone also noted that with nearly 100 nominations and over 50 entries this year, the 2014 Awards Ceremony was tipped to the best yet.

“The level of interest has been so encouraging, and the breadth of different entries has opened our eyes to projects we weren’t even aware of: our 2014 entrants vary from painstakingly repaired heritage buildings to mobile apps, and brand-new builds to heritage advocates. There’s a real mix.”

The Awards Ceremony, widely recognised as the cornerstone event of Beca Heritage Week, will be held on Thursday 23 October. The Ceremony will begin with an official opening by the Christchurch Mayor Lianne Dalziel at 6pm followed by a message from the Patron of the Awards, The Right Honourable Helen Clark ONZ SSI. Finalists and category winners will be announced at the Ceremony.

The Canterbury Heritage Awards recognise excellence in heritage retention and conservation, heritage tourism and future heritage within the public and private sector and promotes the values of best practice heritage retention and conservation to the wider community.

Tickets for the 2014 Vero Canterbury Heritage Awards Ceremony are on sale now – for more information go to www.heritageawards.co.nz.