Victoria Square on track for autumn re-opening

Work on the restoration of Victoria Square is on track to be finished in early March.

The Queen Victoria statue in Victoria Square.

Crown company Ōtākaro Limited is restoring Victoria Square as part of its development of the Avon River Precinct.

The Canterbury earthquakes left Victoria Square in poor condition, with significant damage to the ground, river walls and paved surfaces. 

Initially the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority proposed a redesign of the square but it dropped that plan after public feedback showed people wanted the square to stay as it was.

More than 150,000 new pavers are being laid as part of the restoration of Victoria Square, which began last summer.

The existing lay-out is being kept, with some minor improvements to improve the accessibility of Victoria Square for those with limited mobility.

The Queen Victoria and Captain Cook statues, as well as the floral clock, are being retained and the historic Bowker Fountain, which has not worked since well before the earthquakes, is being restored to working order.

Victoria Square's poupou has been restored.

The special poupou, Te Ahi Kaa,  commissioned for the site as part of the 1990 commemorations of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi has also been restored and returned to its site on the banks of the Avon.  Carved from a giant trunk of totara, the poupou was crafted by local artist and master carver Riki Manuel.

Victoria Square's significance to Ngai Tahu is also being recognised through a new artwork – Mana Motuhake.

In another addition to Victoria Square a new punt stop is being installed across from the Town Hall to provide a place for small water craft to tie up and to allow public access to and from the water.  

New signalised pedestrian crossings are also being installed on Armagh St and on Colombo St to improve pedestrian links to the square. Colombo St, in front of Victoria Square, is also being narrowed.

This morning Christchurch City Councillors were given a tour of Victoria Square so they could see first-hand how the project was progressing.

"In a few months time this will be very beautiful asset back for the city and the citizens of Christchurch,'' Ōtākaro Limited's  Planning and Urban Design Manager Lizzy Pearson told them.