Reconstructed Knox Church to host Awards Ceremony

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.

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