The first phase involves strengthening of the church's foundations and shear walls.

And now that a third of the project's estimated cost of $9.3 million has been raised, the church can apply to the Lotteries Commission for help with the second phase of the work.

The second phase will involve the upgrading of the portals and roof.

To ensure the church is not demolished all the work must be completed by 2027.

Parish priest Father Barry Scannell is confident that the giving spirit of the parishioners and private donors who raised the stage one money will continue.

"I'm sure people will keep responding, and the fact we're starting work should cement that," he said.

St Mary of the Angels was designed by Frederick de Jersey Clere.

Scannell said it is believed to have been the world's first building made of reinforced concrete, and was seen by the citizens of the capital as an architectural and cultural treasure.

St Mary of the Angels' rich cultural and social history is matched only by its prized acoustics, which will be enhanced by the renovation.

The Church, which is in downtown Wellington, has been at the heart of some of the nation's most weighty occasions, including the funeral of Mother Mary Aubert.

A 6.5-magnitude earthquake forced the church's closure in July 2013, and the structure currently meets between 15 per cent and 20 per cent of building code. Any building below 33 per cent is considered earthquake-prone.

Source

• Stuff.co.nz
• Image: teara.govt.nz

The parish priest of St Mary of the Angels, Fr Barry Scannell said that at present it met between 15 and 20 per cent of the new building standard and would need significant work on its foundations and structure to bring it as close to 100 per cent as possible.

Engineers, architects and geotechnical consultants had spent months preparing plans for the project, which was expected to take 18 months to complete.

Scannell said money needed to be raised before work could start. He expected the strengthening would have to be done in two stages.

"The first stage is the structural stuff below the floor slab. The cost of that is about $2.8m and we would like to get on to that as soon as we raise the money."

The church would need help from wherever it could get it because the archdiocese, which had responsibility for many other churches, was not able to help.

St Marys also had a small pool of parishioners - before the quake an average of 650 people attended mass each week.

Read interview with Fr Scannell in the Marist Messenger

Source

• Stuff.co.nz
• Image: Marist Messenger

The two churches have a long history of supporting each other during tough times. "We feel this is a practical way we can help our neighbour church," Rev Allister Lane said.

The close association between the two churches goes back to the 1850s, when a priest from St Mary of the Angels offered to conduct a service at St John's in the City while the Presbyterian community waited for a minister to arrive from Scotland.

In the 1990s, St Mary of the Angels' Boulcott St church was closed for renovations and Masses were held at St John's in upper Dixon St. The co-operation between the two institutions continues today, with a combined Advent service each year using a joint choir from both churches.

St Mary of the Angels parish priest Father Barry Scannell, SM, expressed gratitude for the St John's offer.

"It will also help our parishioners come together for worship while we undertake the earthquake strengthening of our church building."

ST MARY SUNDAY MASS TIMES

7am - St Mary of the Angels Parish Hall, Boulcott St;

9am - Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, Hill St;

Noon - St John's in the City (with Robert Oliver's Gregorian chant choir) and

5pm - St Joseph's, Mount Victoria.

Source

• Stuff.co.nz
• Image: Historic.org.nz

The closure is as a result of a series of recent Wellington earthquakes, the largest registering a magnitude of 6.5 on the Richter Scale.

"The safety of our parishioners and Church users is paramount, and therefore we have made the decision to close the Church so that the design and strengthening work can be fast-tracked", said Parish Priest, Fr Barry Scannell.

During the closure, weekday Mass will be celebrated in the church hall, and Sunday Masses will be celebrated at St Joseph's Mount Victoria and Sacred Heart Cathedral in Thorndon.

The St Mary of the Angels Restoration Committee was planning to begin restoration of the Historic Places Category one building later this year, however the recent earthquakes highlighted the urgency to complete the work sooner.

With the church now closed, Fr Scannell said priority is now given to fund-raising.

Calling St Mary of the Angels a "Wellington landmark", Fr Scannell says there will be an all out effort to raise the necessary money in order to secure the future of this Wellington icon.

As well as a central-city parish church, St Mary's is used for many other significant musical and cultural events, and Fr Scannell is calling on all Wellingtonians and people throughout New Zealand to get behind the project and make this beautiful setting safe for people to use.

Source: Society of Mary NZ

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.

Source

• Stuff.co.nz
• The Angelus

But it is not such good news for the people in Blenheim. Parish priest Father Bill Warwick has informed them that St Mary's would close on Saturday May 26, and masses would be held in the nearby parish hall.

Last Friday the St Mary of the Angels parish Maintenance and Restoration Committee met with four leading seismic engineers who have "peer reviewed" the committee's recommendations.

The Committee proposed five options to bring St Mary of the Angels Church up to 100 percent of the New Zealand Building Code New Building Standard. Three of the options had been drafted before the earthquakes in Christchurch and the remaining two as a result of what was learned from that seismic event.

After the meeting, one option was agreed to be the most practicable basis for further development of strengthening design and is the selected strengthening strategy.

"This is a major step forward and represents years of preparation and work by our builders, (L T McGuinness Ltd), our engineers (Clendon, Burns & Park Ltd,) and our architects (Bulleyman Fortune Ltd.)" said parish priest Father Barry Scannell in the parish's newsletter.

"The development of the agreed option will continue and we hope to be able to forward in the very near future our recommendations to the Archbishop for approval," he said

Father Warwick said said the Blenheim church, built in 1878 and renovated in 1993, was assessed at only 8 per cent of the current building standards, which ranked an E on the earthquake rating scale.

He said the risk was too high for continued use of St Mary's, which had about 1000 people attend masses during the weekend.

Wellington archdiocese property general manager Paul Bayliss says St Mary's is top priority for engineering assessment and repair.

Source

• St Mary of the Angels Newsletter
• The Marlborough Express
• Stuff.co.nz