Christchurch Art Gallery basement taking shape

Viewing gaps provide a window to the city’s new art gallery.

The first basement floor slabs and walls have been poured for the new Christchurch Art Gallery.

Great pits are visible and these will be the gallery’s basement car parking, Huge machines, including a tower crane, give an indication of the scale of the construction

Work started on the site (Worcester Boulevard bounded by Montreal and Gloucester Streets) last December.

A corrugated, iron fence surrounds the area and murals, that were a distinctive feature on the perimeter prior to the start of work, have been relocated on the fence. Viewing gaps are also placed along the fence at various heights so that everyone can have a look at the construction activity.

The new art gallery is scheduled for completion in October 2002 and will be open to the public in March 2003.

Meanwhile, at the McDougal
The Robert McDougall Art Gallery’s changing exhibition programme ended in February.

Some areas, previously used by changing exhibitions are being used for preparing material for the new Christchurch Art Gallery, such as framing restoration, labelling, cataloguing, archiving and packing.

A selection of the city’s permanent collection remains on display while The Print Room (on the east side of the gallery) houses a new exhibition, Recent Acquisitions, that contains works acquired by the gallery in the last few years.

It includes a newly acquired work by Bill Hammond.

The Information Pavilion, which contained extensive material about the new gallery, has closed with the material transferred to a display area at the McDougall gallery.

This includes plans, an artist’s impressions, and a model of the new gallery with information and progress updates.

Related Information
Christchurch Art Gallery Construction News