page_title: City Mall, Christchurch
section_title: 2007–2009 redevelopment
hierarchical_section_title: City Mall, Christchurch / History / 2007–2009 redevelopment
caption_attribution_description: English: Central city heritage tramway circuit in Christchurch, New Zealand with initial plan for approved extensions.
context_page_description: City Mall is the main pedestrian mall in the central city of Christchurch, New Zealand, comprising two sections of Cashel Street plus the Bridge of Remembrance and one section of High Street. It is also known colloquially as Cashel Mall. The Bridge of Remembrance was pedestrianised in 1976. The main mall was closed to traffic on 11 January 1982 and formally reopened as a pedestrian mall on 7 August, but it was not until 1992 that the entire mall was paved. The mall was redeveloped between 2006 and 2009, and track was installed for an expansion of the heritage tram network.
  The September 2010 Canterbury earthquake caused damage to some buildings, but the Boxing Day aftershock, directly underneath the city, caused even more damage, including building failures. The 6.3 magnitude February 2011 Christchurch earthquake devastated the mall; the façades of many buildings collapsed and there were several fatalities. The centre of the city was subsequently closed to allow demolition work to proceed. Structures affected included most of the heritage buildings in the mall that are or were registered by Heritage New Zealand.
context_section_description: During 2006, the public were invited to comment on the proposed redevelopment plans for City Mall.  The Council approved the final proposals in December 2006 and agreed an implementation plan, for which NZ$10.5 million had been budgeted, but on which NZ$14 million was spent.  An alliance contract was entered into between Christchurch City Council as the client, Isthmus Group as the designer, and Downer EDI Works as the contractor.  Mayor Garry Moore and Central City Business Association chairman Antony Gough started the work with a symbolic lifting of the first brick on 10 August 2007.
  A separate project that affected the City Mall redevelopment was the extension of the heritage tramway. From the previous circuit on Worcester Street, the extension would see the trams turn left into Oxford Terrace (The Strip), and then left into the Cashel Street part of City Mall.  At the intersection with High Street, trams would turn south-east towards Lichfield Street. On the return journey, trams would travel north-west along High Street, including the City Mall part of it. The $10.8 million project, to be funded from grants and from borrowing, was due to be completed in the 2013/14 financial year.
  The redevelopment was not without controversy.  Young people protested strongly about the demolition of Hack Circle on the corner of Cashel and High Streets, as it was seen as an attempt to push them out of City Mall.  Antony Gough, owner of several properties along The Strip, was an advocate of stronger security for City Mall, particularly the Hack Circle, telling The Press that the people who associate there "are just very scary".  Police arrested several young people during the mall redevelopment, including 13 teenagers when the demolition of Stewart Fountain began.
  The second Stewart Fountain, replacing an earlier fountain, was built in 1998 at a cost of NZ$700,000, with a NZ$200,000 contribution by industrialist Sir Robertson Stewart and decorated with hundreds of tiles painted by Christchurch schoolchildren. Demolition of the fountain began on 13 August 2007 and 13 young people were arrested in the resulting demonstration; Sir Robertson Stewart had died that morning. Christchurch City Council formally named the reserve Stewart Plaza in 2008. Stewart's bequest part-funded the replacement sculpture, "Flour Power", on the condition that the installation be permanent, and that the land be known as Stewart Plaza.
  Another controversial issue was the slow road through High Street. Despite opposition from 70% of those who had taken part in the public consultation, the Council confirmed that the slow road would go ahead.  The upgraded City Mall was opened by mayor Bob Parker on 18 December 2009.
caption: Christchurch heritage tramway circuit with extensions through City Mall
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