The buildings are rated at 25 per cent of the New Building Standard (NBS), anything under 34 per cent is considered earthquake-prone.

IPCE have until 2027 to complete the strengthening.

They have just $42,000 sitting in a fund to get it earthquake strengthened, falling well short of the $11 million that's needed.

Already engineer and quantity surveyor reports have cost tens of thousands of dollars.

But the director of St Gerard's church and monastery Silvana Abela told the New Zealand Herald they didn't look at the situation as a "headache" and the strengthening cost was just life.

The biggest problem is the church, which could take up $8 million of the total cost.

They are pursuing several avenues to raise money, including selling the property they also own at 1 Oriental Terrace.

The sale would provide more than $1 million.

Abela said they were also looking at fundraising options and were in contact with "major donors", but said she could not disclose further details while negotiations are ongoing.

"We will continue working towards it, and I have a lot of faith that we'll manage to do it," Abela said.

Abela confirmed they have applied to Wellington City Council for an extension of five years to get the church earthquake strengthened.

The Redemptorists built St Gerard's church in 1908 and the monastery in 1932.

Two of Wellington's most well-known architects, John Swan and Frederick de Jersey Clere, designed it.

In 1988, costs associated with the buildings and their declining numbers, made the Redemptorists decide to sell the buildings.

Source

• nzherald.co.nz
• stgerards.org.nz
• Image: en.wikipedia.org

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