In 2008, with funding from the Christchurch City Council Art Advisory Group and the Stewart family, the 13 metre-high Flour Power 2008 was unveiled on the corners of Colombo and High streets, as an acknowledgement and a salute to Christchurch’s first pioneering farmers and to our local industrial achievements – especially the work of Sir …
On 6th March 2006, Banks Peninsula came under the care of the C.C.C. Due to the abundance of food provided by the forests, rivers, sea and skies, Banks Peninsula was known to the Maori as Te Pataka o Rakaihautu – the storehouse of Rakaihautu [Chief of Uruao]. Formed between eight and eleven million years ago, …
As our Canterbury Association surveyors buried their markers around the area that would become Cathedral Square, just metres away to the south east stood a large Raupo swamp (now High/Lichfield Streets) full of the best of our native fauna and flora. They had been encountering similar boggy areas since their surveying began in 1848 with …
On 29th March 2001, Marie Emily Le Lievre and Christchurch City Councillor Sally Buck unveiled, in Victoria Square, a plaque celebrating the history of the Le Lievre family and their role in bringing the city its much loved Weeping Willows. Marie’s Great Great Grandfather, François Le Lievre was born in Les Parlierre, France around the …
On a stormy afternoon, at about 2.00pm, on 16th August 1999, New Zealand’s first White Rhinoceros was born under a tree in Orana Wildlife Park’s rhino paddock. For Orana’s staff it was a quick delivery – by the time they discovered that mother Utani had gone into labour and had rushed to assist her, the …
On 4th February 1995, after a few years of preparation, the Hon. Vicki Buck officially welcomed electric trams back into the city of Christchurch after a forty one year’s absence. In 1993, the C.C.C. was approached by the Tramway Historical Society with a suggestion for the upcoming Worcester Boulevard Project. Could a tram line be …
During the mid 1960s, a few groups of heritage enthusiasts and societies all got together to open a park that would be enjoyed by the people of Canterbury. It was called the Museum of Science and Industry. We now know it as Ferrymead Heritage Park. Several city locations were considered for the set up – …
In December 1994, as part of the 1990 commemorations of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, a giant six metre, totara ‘Pou Whenua’ – simply known today as the ’Pou Pou’ – was unveiled in Victoria Square. Among those attending was Sir Tipene O’Regan, the chairman of the Ngai Tahu Trust Board. He spoke …
On 24th October 1992, the Mt. Cavendish Gondola was opened. Twenty years in the making, the project became a survivor against court battles, public polls and a $11.5 million dollar construction bill. After the opening, a new unseen problem made an appearance. A name change was needed as the Gondola deemed hard to find – …
In 1992, in the Millbrook Reserve on Carlton Mill Road, the 350th anniversary of the arrival of the Dutch explorer (and first European in New Zealand waters), Abel Janszoon Tasman was acknowledged. His first view of New Zealand was its west coast. He named his discovery ‘Staten Landt’, believing that the land was attached to …
