The Beginings of the Journey – a Unique Set of Circumstances
Following the death of Bill Sutton, his property at 20 Templar Street was purchased from the Sutton estate by Neil Roberts, the former senior curator at the Christchurch Art Gallery who, with the support of the Sutton estate trustees, successfully sought a Christchurch City Council (CCC) protective covenant on both the Sutton House and its garden, dated 23 August 2002. This protection turned out to be one of the key elements which saved the house from demolition a decade later.
At the time of the Christchurch earthquakes in 2010/11, the government purchased and removed buildings from a number of badly damaged areas of land deemed unlikely to be able to be rebuilt on in the short to medium term. These were collectively known as the Residential Red Zones. Damage included severe liquefaction as well as lowering of the land elevation. The most significant of these areas, the Avon/Otakaro River Corridor, an area of land more than three times the size of Hagley Park, 11 km long, runs alongside the Avon River from the city centre to New Brighton. Over 5000 households formerly lived in the area. Fortuitously, the Sutton House, which is situated on the western edge of this zone, had robust foundations. Though the house was damaged, it survived the earthquakes in reasonable condition. Because of this, combined with the existing City Council protective covenant, together with strong advocacy from many quarters, the Sutton House – increasingly recognised as a very important heritage building with unique cultural and architectural value – was not required to be demolished. In fact Sutton House is the only heritage residence in the whole of the Red Zone to survive. It lay empty for several years; its fabric deteriorated in places and it was the subject of a number of burglaries, despite security arrangements.
In mid-2017, National’s Minister for Christchurch Regeneration Hon Nicky Wagner held a series of Sutton property – related meetings including with the CCC. There was consensus that the Sutton property, having been saved, should be repaired and restored by LINZ [the Government’s transitional owner of all Red Zone property], then transferred to the CCC , and then leased to a suitable entity, probably a charitable Trust, which would be able to provide a viable financial future for this very special building as well as a suitable governance and operational structure. This three part decision – repair the house, transfer to CCC, and CCC leasing to a suitable entity – was picked up in late 2017 by the incoming Labour Government’s Minister for Christchurch Regeneration Hon Dr Megan Woods, who then ensured the essential next step. Funding was made available from LINZ to repair the building to ICOMOS heritage standards and to make it fit for purpose as a building to be used by the public. In addition, a search was made to find a suitable entity to develop the property as a house museum, a community meeting place and as possible accommodation for an Artist in Residence Programme.
Two propositions were offered from two different entities. First, the Fine Arts Department of Canterbury University offered to rent the property for two years for an artist in residence programme. Second, Dame Ann Hercus and Neil Roberts, representing an embryonic new Trust, proposed that the property, along with some neighbouring land, be leased on a long term basis, including rights of renewal, for a multifaceted project including turning the Sutton House into a house museum and community meeting place and developing options for Residency accommodation. Plans were also developed for a community park encircling these buildings. The Government supported the second broader proposition and Canterbury University and the Christchurch Art Gallery accepted an invitation from Dame Ann and Neil Roberts to nominate representatives to join the proposed new Trust.
In March 2018, an initial Steering Committee was formed to plan for and develop what we called the Sutton Project. Eight months later, in December 2018, and following a successful application to become a registered Charitable Trust, this group became the Trustees of this new Charitable Trust – the Sutton Heritage House and Garden Charitable Trust.
