Fire repair chance to improve spaces in cathedral

A 20m-high scaffolding tower has just been built inside St Paul’s Cathedral, Dunedin, aimed partly at repairing recent fire damage.

Cathedral dean the Very Rev Dr Tony Curtis said the work was helping overcome problems caused by the fire, that tore through the roof early on August 11.

Since last week, much progress had also been made in reorganising the cathedral’s internal space, by removing 26 pews and temporarily cutting the overall seating capacity from 450 to 320.

A video camera had also been installed to ensure that some parishioners could watch, via livestream, from home, when Michaelmas was celebrated on Sunday, he said.

The Dean of St Paul’s Cathedral, Dunedin, the Very Rev Dr Tony Curtis, shows the large...
The Dean of St Paul’s Cathedral, Dunedin, the Very Rev Dr Tony Curtis, shows the large scaffolding tower at the cathedral’s western end. PHOTO: PETER MCINTOSH

"There’s two options in a situation like this.

"You can lament over what’s happened as for us, to some extent, we have done, and you can just sit there and worry."

However, it had been decided to make positive changes, and Logic Group Dunedin would co-ordinate repair and redevelopment work.

The cathedral’s service activities and seating had been largely shifted out of the "new" western chancel area, which opened in 1971, and were being concentrated in the cathedral’s initial, smaller space, which had opened in 1919.

Dr Curtis said that a large, white shrink-wrap plastic screen would be placed over much of the front of the scaffolding early next week, and another large membrane would protect the cathedral’s organ from dust during construction work.

It was also planned to redevelop a large underutilised downstairs area for shared community use, including for conferences.

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