Our City, Christchurch
| Our City O-Tautahi | |
|---|---|
Our City in 2007
|
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| Former names | Civic offices |
| General information | |
| Type | Former civic offices |
| Location | Christchurch Central City |
| Address | 159 Oxford Terrace |
| Town or city | Christchurch |
| Country | New Zealand |
| Coordinates | 43°31′51″S 172°38′01″E / 43.5308°S 172.6336°E |
| Construction started | 1886 |
| Inaugurated | 24 March 1887 |
| Client | Christchurch City Council |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | two |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Samuel Hurst Seager |
| Reference no. | 1844 |
| References | |
| "Our City". Register of Historic Places. Heritage New Zealand. | |
Our City, or more formally Our City O-Tautahi, is on the corner of Worcester Street and Oxford Terrace in the Christchurch Central City. It is a Category I heritage building registered with the New Zealand Historic Places Trust. From 1887–1924 it was used by Christchurch City Council as their second civic offices, providing room for meetings of the council and for housing staff, before they moved to the Civic. It was then used for many decades by the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce and served as the main tourist information. These days it is an exhibition and events centre.
The Christchurch Municipal Council first met in 1862. Later that year, it became the Christchurch City Council. The council used Christchurch's first public building, the Christchurch Land Office, as their meeting venue and for housing council employees. The Land Office was located on Oxford Terrace on the banks of the Avon River, just north of where the Worcester Street bridge crossed the river. Built in 1851, the building had various public uses. The land is a formal nature reserve (Reserve 10).
In 1879, the council administration had run out of room in the Land Office, and a competition for new civic offices and a town hall (i.e. a venue for large gatherings) for what is now known as Victoria Square was announced. After all the competition entries proved too expensive, the project was abandoned.
Another competition was called for in 1885, this time for just civic offices (i.e. for a council meeting venue and for staff), and on the same site as the Land Office. Controversy erupted when the competition was won by Samuel Hurst Seager; he was young and relatively inexperienced, and his design in Queen Anne style was an architectural type unfamiliar to New Zealand. Construction began in 1886, but the controversy continued when councillor Samuel Paull Andrews claimed the building was structurally unsound. Benjamin Mountfort and John Whitelaw, both architects, and Edward Dobson, an engineer, reviewed the design and the building and found everything to be safe. The only suggestion that they did make was to strengthen the roof in a different, more costly way than designed by Seager. The building was completed on 24 March 1887 and council met for the first time in their new premises on 4 April 1887. The south façade of the building has two terracotta sculptures by George Frampton that represent 'Industry' and 'Concord'.
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