Grants to help safeguard Christchurch’s heritage

New Zealand’s oldest operational steamship – the tug Lyttelton - will get a new electrical boiler, thanks in part to a heritage grant from Christchurch City Council.

The Council has agreed to give the Tug Lyttelton Preservation Society $58,000 to help them pay the $116,000 cost of installing a new boiler in the 112-year-old tug.

The new boiler will cut the Lyttelton’s coal usage by up to 60 per cent and help to ensure the historic tug remains viable for future generations.

For many decades, the Lyttelton helped ships get safely in and out of Lyttelton harbour. The tug was retired from service in 1971 and looked set to be dismantled until a group of volunteers stepped into save it.  Since then the Lyttelton has forged a new career as a passenger steamer, taking people on cruises around Lyttelton Harbour and on charter trips.

The heritage grant for the Lyttelton was one of several that the Council approved at its 15 September meeting.

Other grants included $25,169 for stonework conservation and repair work at St Saviour’s at Holy Trinity church in Lyttelton and $14,999 for a chimney reinstatement project at historic Ballantyne House at Medbury School.

The Council also gave grants to help the owners of historic properties at 10 Brittan Street, 45 Ranfurly Street, and 98-100 Chester Street East to assist with exterior conservation, repair and maintenance work.

The Council also approved two grants from its Intangible Heritage Grant Fund.

The Arts Centre Te Matatiki Toi Ora is getting a $45,000 grant for a project it is working on to share the stories of mana whenua and their connection with the Arts Centre site prior to European settlement.

The Canterbury Centre of Historic Photography and Film, based in Ferrymead Heritage Park, is getting a $20,000 grant to help it preserve and share a unique, and largely unseen, collection of film, glass plates and negatives that document the history of the city.