St Patrick’s Presbytery on the corner of Hobson St and Wyndham St, alongside St Patrick’s Cathedral in Auckland, is to be restored and upgraded.
The 130-year-old brick building has a Category A heritage rating, the highest possible.
It is said by heritage architects to be Auckland inner-city’s oldest continually-occupied residence.
An Auckland diocese spokeswoman told the New Zealand Herald last week: “The land on which the Cathedral of St Patrick and St Joseph stands in Wyndham St was granted to Bishop Pompallier by Governor Hobson on June 1, 1841.
The adjacent land where the St Patrick’s presbytery stands was purchased some years later by [a] parishioner.”
The Presbytery was built in 1888 to an Edward Mahoney design and has served as home to the Cathedral priests for the past 125 years.
Only superficial changes have been made to the building since it was constructed, its heritage listing shows.
It is an earthquake-prone building with its brittle bricks and sea-sand mortar, the roof leaks and the paintwork require attention.
Documents lodged with Auckland Council showed the Hobson St boundary retaining wall will be strengthened, and an outbuilding beside the presbytery will be demolished.
Trenches will be dug for new utilities from Wyndham St, sub-floor ventilation will be improved, and a brick boundary wall built in 1957 to the east will be removed.
Paving from St Patrick’s Square will be extended and a 1970s carport will be demolished, along with a trellis wall.
Inside, lowered or false ceilings will be removed, the kitchen extended, a new bathroom and pantry built and plywood diaphragms installed on ground and level one ceilings for seismic strengthening, according to the documents.
Gregory Shanahan, a lawyer and Cathedral Centre Board chairman said they have raised all the funds required to meet the costs of the project.
He said the works are programmed to be finished in June next year.
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