In the latest batch of building treatment orders, Majestic House at 122 Manchester Street has been listed for demolition.
As far as I know this is roughly a short history of Majestic House:
- Built around 1930 as the Majestic Theatre.
- Was used for various commercial functions including a movie theatre, commercial office space, retail premises and a nightclub.
- Following a major fire in the late 1970s it was bought by Christchurch Revival Fellowship (New Life Centre Christchurch) and extensively refurbished costing something like half a million dollars – which was worth a lot more back then than it is today. Photos I have seen showed scaffolding right up to the ceiling of the main auditorium. The building had some modern features fitted while preserving its heritage appearances – for example, the art deco ceiling was kept while “clouds” were hung from it to carry light fittings. A sprinkler system was installed as part of the work. The restoration was supervised by Don Cowey, a Christchurch architect who died last year in the February 22 earthquake.
- Prior to purchasing Majestic House the Christchurch Revival Fellowship met for around 20 years in the Horticultural Hall and more recently at that time had had its offices and small meeting spaces in the building directly across Lichfield Street from Majestic House.
- The building was reopened around 1980 as the church of the New Life Centre Christchurch as it was then known. Apart from the main church auditorium, the building contained offices, teaching spaces and a sub auditorium, a commercial kitchen and dining area, a basement cafe (Lions Den) and the One Way Bookshop. The name “Majestic House” appears to have been used from that time although in Church use it was more commonly applied to the first, second and third floor area, which had a separate entrance next door at 124 Manchester Street.
- About 1994 the church relocated its Bible college, “International School of Ministry” to Majestic House and sold the former site in Thorrington. The proceeds of the subdivision development of the Thorrington site, now known as Majestic Lane, were used to fund the purchase of the Bedford Row carpark (former Farmers carpark building) nearby. The Bible College did not reopen following the relocation.
- Sometime later the Lions Den and One Way Book Centre were closed at separate times with the space being used for other purposes. The book centre after relocation became Manna Christian Bookstore under new ownership. The “Lions Den” at different times operated as a Friday night / Sunday night cafe under various names and was also the base for a soup kitchen, Samaritans Kitchen
- New Life Centre Christchurch changed its name to City New Life Church in the 1990s, and then later, to Majestic Church, the current name.
Basic Design: The premises has a height of four stories consisting of the major areas:
- The front section from Manchester Street consists of, at the ground floor level, the foyer, creche and former bookshop, each with its own street entrance and all linked internally. A separate entrance at 124 Manchester Street with stairs and a lift give access to basement space and to the various meeting / office spaces: First floor foyer and meeting space, second floor (Bible College and Sunday School space) and the third floor (meeting/dining space, kitchen and the main office/reception area). The creche area has its own small kitchen and toilet. There are public toilets in the ground floor foyer and a ground floor kitchen area, the first floor meeting space also has a small kitchen, and there are also toilets in the first floor foyer. The second floor has toilets in the entrance off the 124 Manchester Street stairwell. In addition to this stairwell there are two more: one in the centre which starts from the ground floor foyer and goes to the second floor, and one on the Lichfield Street side which goes all the way up to the third floor from the ground floor foyer.
- The centre section is the main auditorium with seating for over 1000 persons. This has been modified somewhat from the original structure, including adding a staircase on the front of the balcony on each side. A baptismal tank mounted on rails in the orchestra pit space on the stage could be rolled out of the way if the pit was needed when the venue was hired for shows. The original front stage area built in 1980 was circular with the baptismal tank covered by removable flooring panels acting as a wing. In more recent years the front stage area was completely remodelled and given a more regular, rectangular appearance. The auditorium is mainly accessible through the front and rear of the building. It is separated from the front of the building by a concrete firewall, and the entrances from this side are through the ground floor and first floor foyers. Fire exit doors go out onto Lichfield Street.
- The rear section is the main stage which is separated from the auditorium by a retractable steel fire curtain across the proscenium arch. This incorporates a fly tower and associated equipment. The stage has been used at times for seating during large events. There are dressing and storage rooms alongside the stage. The two small arches on each side have latterly been used for the speakers of the main sound system. Directly below the stage is the basement cafe area (Lions Den), which has access from both sides of the stage, the main auditorium, and also from two other entrances in Bedford Row and Lichfield Street. Lions Den has its own toilets which are at ground level on the Bedford Row side.
Aerial shots confirm the sectionalising of the building structure which can clearly be seen in the different roof and window styles.
Recollections
I was a member of this church for about three years from 1991 to 1994. The building was like a rabbit warren with many spaces and six different street entrances which could all be used to gain access to any of the spaces. The main offices, creche and auditorium had their separate Manchester Street entrances, and all of these were interconnected; in Bedford Row were two separate entrances to the Lions Den and rear stage which were interconnected internally; the Lions Den also had an entrance off Lichfield Street which could also be used to enter the rear stage; and there was also an access doorway from the Lions Den into the orchestra pit area of the main auditorium. Walking through the first floor meeting space from the office entrance stairwell took you into the first floor entrance of the auditorium. On the second floor you could gain access to the former projection booths giving a view high up in the back of the auditorium. As if that were not enough there were two internal stairwells apart from those at the office entrance. From the middle of the main foyer the centre stairs went up on a spiral through the first floor terminating at the second floor. The back stairs were a conventional zigzag starting from the main foyer and going right up to the third floor of the building. From a couple of places there was access to the celing cavity above the auditorium. One of these places, which was mainly used by lighting technicians to get onto the “clouds” to install and remove lighting, was accessed by a series of long ladders from behind the stage. Another was a rooftop hatch which was notoriously used by a homeless man around 1993 to enter the celing space where he “resided” for a time. Whilst being chased by the building’s caretaker, one Kevin Talbot, Kev put his foot through the auditorium ceiling leaving a hole to be repaired later. Access to the outside of the roof was possible from the third floor.
Apart from church services it was hired out to schools, other church groups and the like for meetings. On Sunday nights after services everyone would head to the Lions Den cafe for refreshments. This was also open from time to time to the public, generally Friday nights, one name used was Heartland Cafe. I used to volunteer for a time in the Samaritans Kitchen, the soup kitchen that operated in the cafe for several years. The main auditorium was well suited for major events as it was fitted out with plenty of spaces for theatrical lighting to be installed, and the fly tower had the capabilities expected of a performing arts theatre, a function that was incorporated from the original design of the theatre.
During the week smaller meetings were held, often on the first floor which was set up as a second auditorium with stackable chairs. The second floor area was more often used by the Sunday School and had a number of smaller spaces. When the Bible College moved into town some alterations were carried out on the second floor but as the college did not reopen after being relocated these spaces were not used as intended at the time. The third floor area was also a meeting space although it was also used for dining due to the commercial style kitchen being directly alongside it. The main offices of the church including reception were also located there. On the ground floor next to the foyer the creche space was also used for smaller meetings during the week.
After I left the church I went back a few times for Promisekeepers events. With the size of the building and all of the various spaces it was ideal for conventions such as PK where breakout meetings were often held and spaces were needed for temporary offices. City New Life had one of the best church buildings in Christchurch for such events and was almost unsurpassed until La Vida was built a few years ago in Riccarton.
Earthquake Damage
As mentioned above the building was extensively gutted in the 1970s by a fire. But it was able to be restored and reopened. This time however, the series of earthquakes have caused more extensive damage. Directly after February 2011, the building was able to be entered although there was significant damage and it could not at that time be reopened because it was in the drop zone of the Hotel Grand Chancellor, therefore inside the red zone cordon. Since then however with the series of aftershocks, there has been further damage to the extent that the building is no longer safe to enter. Majestic Church first held meetings at La Vida in Riccarton, but after a few months they relocated to their present site at 85B Moorhouse Ave. CERA has issued a demolition order, and although this is being disputed by the building’s insurers, the church are already making plans to rebuild on the site, subject to the usual processes such as geotechnical assessments. At this time therefore the demolition and timetable are uncertain. As the building is still inside the red zone it is not possible at present for the public to approach the building or view the demolition progress whenever this commences.
Ross Becker photo of Majestic House from High Street looking across to Manchester Street. Album: Oct 15 - CBD Red Zone attributed to BeckerFraser Photos.
This photo is an aerial shot in which Majestic House is prominent in the middle left. We can the different roof styles over the three sections of the building. What appears to be damage to the roof where it joins can be seen in the photo (I understand roughly there was damage to the building where these two sections were joined, on Feb 22, resulting in a lot of water entering the building and flooding parts of it). Visible at lower left is the tower of the lift shaft. At the time I was there, the original type lift was still installed. During the big snowfall of 1992, snow built up on the flat part of the roof causing water to enter the building flooding some of the basement areas. More or less diagonally opposite in Bedford Row just in front of the large square IRD building top left, can be seen the Bedford Row Carpark building owned by the church. Compare the appearance of Majestic House with the Odeon Theatre in the bottom right corner, only a block to the south, which for a number of years was the home of City AOG Church. BeckerFraser Photos
In this shot we can see the roof differences more clearly. The roof boundary between the front (offices and ground floor foyer) section and the middle section (auditorium) align with the change in windows on the outside of the Lichfield Street frontage. The auditorium windows were always blinded on the inside for blackout. There is a break in the canopy on Lichfield Street between the auditorium and the “Lions Den” entrance which has its own small canopy. BeckerFraser Photos
Majestic House at the Manchester/Lichfield intersection, street level view. To the left, the canopy was raised for a section above the entrance to the main foyer. BeckerFraser Photos
Next door at 128 Manchester Street on the Bedford Row corner was this old building with ground floor retail and apartments. It was much more extensively damaged on the outside. BeckerFraser Photos
This is Bedford Row with Manchester Street to the far right. 128 Manchester St (grey coloured) is to the right, with 10 Bedford Row (pink) in the middle. To the left and behind this building can be seen the north wall of Majestic House with the rear stage entrance (red/white doors). The low brick structure to the right of this entrance is the Lions Den entrance and toilets. BeckerFraser Photos
Redevelopment options
Majestic Church has plans to rebuild on the site subject to it being found suitable. I’m guessing the adjacent sites 128 Manchester Street and 10 Bedford Row will also be demolished based on their appearance in these pictures. If the church purchased these adjacent sites they could expand their site size to 2200 square metres which would give them options for a simpler two-story building similar to La Vida. Of course I have no idea what plans they have considered but I doubt a rebuild will be as massive or grand as the 1930 building.
