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St Mary of the Angels church in central Wellington is one of about 470 buildings in the city that have been declared earthquake prone, which means they rate at less than 34 per cent compliance with the building code. The City Council has given the parish a 2027 deadline to carry out strengthening work.
The church has been give a yellow sticker setting out the timeframe for either strengthening work or demolition. The length of time depends on the level of risk, the building’s use, and the number of people who use it.
This sticker has been displayed in St Mary of the Angels church as required by the law. The parish priest, Father Barry Scannell, said visitors to the church had not been fazed by the yellow sticker.
“The people of Wellington realise we’re in a city that is obviously prone to earthquakes . . . I don’t think it makes a difference to them at all.”
He said it was important to warn people of the environment they were entering, and to show people the church was actually responsible for righting the situation.
Buildings can be red-stickered, requiring immediate closure, if the deadline passes without any work being done, or the structure is damaged in a way that causes danger.
The parish has finalised plans to strengthen the building. After the AGM of the Friends of St Mary of the Angels Charitable Trust on 29 July the parish’s architects presented the preferred options for the seismic strengthening of the Church. The parish newsletter reported that the “presentation was warmly received by the fifty or so people who attended.”
The Restoration and Maintenance Committee is now preparing a submission to the Archdiocesan Board of Administration seeking approval to proceed to the preliminary design stage. The expenditure required to get the design drawings to the point where we clearly understand all the work that is required to strengthen the Church to over 100 percent of the current building code will be in the vicinity of $250,000.
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