New lease of life for Sign of Takahe

One of Christchurch’s most treasured heritage buildings will soon be open to the public again.

Christchurch City Council has agreed to lease the Sign of the Takahe to local a company headed by Andrew Male, who plans to run a café and bar from the historic building and to use it as a function venue.

Andrew Male has big plans for the Sign of the Takahe.

Mr Male has agreed with the Council that he will make some meeting spaces within the Sign of the Takahe available for not-for-profit community groups to use during the week.

“Bringing the community together is very important for my family and I,’’ Mr Male says. “We want to see people coming together and appreciating the building. We are really excited about sharing our journey with everyone.’’

The Sign of the Takahe on Hackthorne Road is a well-known landmark in Christchurch but it has been mostly off-limits to the public since it was badly damaged in the Canterbury earthquakes.

The Council completed a $2.8 million restoration of the nearly 100-year-old building in 2017 but it has sat largely unused since then while the Council has explored options for its future use.

During the Request for Proposals process to lease the building, the Council made the Sign of the Takahe available for some one-off functions which enabled the community to use in the building in the interim.

Mr Male says he is thrilled to be able to breathe new life into such a special building.

“To me, it has many special qualities that brings an inner warmth when you visit. You feel the passion, the dedication, the vision that Harry Ell had. The vision to make the Port Hills a relaxing, leisurely attraction for all to enjoy.

“When you walk in through those amazing large blue front doors, you immediately sense that this building needs people inside,’’ Mr Male says.

Council Head of Parks Andrew Rutledge is delighted an agreement on the future use of the Sign of the Takahe has been reached.

“The Sign of the Takahe is a building that is treasured by the community and I’m thrilled they will soon be able to visit, use and appreciate the beauty of its interiors.

“A huge amount of work went into restoring the Sign of the Takahe and it is going to be wonderful to  see people using it again and enjoying its spaces,’’ Mr Rutledge says.

The Sign of the Takahe café and bar will open to the public in early August. Bookings for functions and weddings can be made through signofthetakahe.co.nz. 

History of the Sign of the Takahe

The Sign of the Takahe is one of four historic rest houses financed by Harry Ell for those walking the scenic reserves of the Port Hills.

The original friezes within the Sign of the Takahe were carefully restored during the post-quake repair of the building.

Designed to be the entrance to the Summit Road, it was envisioned as a great Gothic-style teahouse and construction began on it in 1918.

The partially completed Tram Terminus Rest House, as it was then known, opened for business in 1920, with the lower section operating as the tram terminus and tearoom to try and offset building costs.

Unfortunately argument, financial difficulty, depression and war delayed the building’s completion for almost three decades.

Government-funded work schemes during the Great Depression enabled Harry Ell to hire a number of skilled craftsmen, who produced the fine detailed carving in both wood and stone that typify both the interior and exterior of the Sign of the Takahe.

Working within a very tight budget, incredible ingenuity saw ornate friezes carved from packing cases, local Hillmorton stone quarried and hand-chiselled on site, tools made from scraps and huge kauri beams salvaged from an old bridge and used in the living area. 

The interior of the Sign of the Takahe is full of heraldic symbols: coats of arms of Canterbury settler families, governors-general and prime ministers grace the walls alongside English shields, while the dining room contains a fireplace that is an exact replica of one in historic Haddon Hall in Derbyshire.

When Harry Ell died suddenly in 1934, his workers (known locally as Ell's Angels) continued construction, until the outbreak of the Second World War.

In 1942 Christchurch City Council bought the building and it was finally completed in 1948.