(Sightseers’ Delight) — Nine years after politicians promised to fix Christchurch’s crumbling cathedral, the only thing rising faster than the dust is the eye-popping price tag.
When a devastating earthquake leveled New Zealand’s South Island in 2011, the historic 19th-century landmark was reduced to a pile of expensive rubble. By late 2017, officials proudly claimed a NZ$104 million ($64 million) restoration plan would wrap up in a decade. Parliament signed off, photo-ops were held, and bureaucrats patted themselves on the back.
Fast-forward to 2026, and the church is still broken, dusty, and broke.
Work on the cathedral has been frozen since 2024 because the money completely ran out. Desperate project leaders floated a scaled-back plan to fix just the nave, tower, and famous Rose Window — slashing the funding gap to a mere NZ$45 million ($27 million) — and promised a 2030 reopening if construction restarted this year.
Naturally, that restart hasn’t happened.
In June 2026, the Christchurch City Council offered NZ$15 million ($9 million) in emergency cash, provided the national government chipped in.
But Wellington slammed the door, pointing out that taxpayers shouldn’t keep dumping public funds into a privately owned church when actual roads and bridges need fixing. Taxpayers seem to agree: more than 18,000 disgruntled locals signed a petition telling the council to close its wallet.
Meanwhile, the city has mostly rebuilt around the ruin. The historic tramways are humming, tourist hot spots are open, and Shigeru Ban’s iconic “Cardboard Cathedral” — built in 2013 as a cheap temporary fix — still does the heavy lifting 13 years later.
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