The Christchurch Art Gallery will reopen on Saturday 20 December almost five years after it was shut due to earthquake damage.
Gallery volunteer co-ordinator Rebecca Ogle is looking forward to seeing the building full of people once again. Photo: RNZ / Rachel Graham
The gallery became the hub for the civil defence response after the February 2011 earthquake.
Shortly afterwards it was closed to the public, at first due to a neighbouring building being demolished.
It was only later that the true extent of the damage to the gallery itself became clear.
The building has had $59 million worth of repairs, including re-leveling, installing base isolation and replacing most of the glass structure of the outside of the building.
Thomas Jones, project director for the repair and strengthening programme, said a geotechnical report showed the ground underneath the gallery had liquefied and the building had settled unevenly.
He said the glass facade also had to be almost completely rebuilt. Originally the glass facade was supported by the structure of the building, but after the February earthquake it had settled on to the ground, and all the support rods had buckled.
A geotechnical report to council said that if another major quake hit they could lose the building.
"In fact originally we weren't even confident (the repair) could be done," said Mr Jones. "We got some technology from Japan, and we had a New Zealand based contractor who partnered with a major Japanese company, where this work had been done before, and they came in and releveled the art gallery."
Some minor repair work will continue into March next year, but Mr Jones said the building was now one of the safest in Christchurch.
Michael Parakowhai's On First Looking into Chapman's Homer is one of the new pieces in the Christchurch Art Gallery collection. Photo: RNZ / Rachel Graham
Gallery director Jenny Harper said the $59 million repair job was essential, in part to reassure overseas galleries it was safe to lend their pieces to the city.
"It was an incredibly important investment for us to make in the future of the Christchurch Art Gallery, because without it for quite sometime we would be potentially very local. And I don't think that should be the ambition of this gallery, and it shouldn't be the ambition of the second biggest city in New Zealand."
The work on show at the moment is made up almost entirely of pieces owned by the gallery, including 37 new pieces.
Among those there are five major new pieces, each selected to represent the five years the gallery was shut.
One of those is by Bill Cuthbert, and had been installed into the roof above the main staircase. The piece resembles a chandelier made of chairs and tables, and it was previously on display at the Venice Biennale.
Another is by Australian artist Tania Schultz, and uses 600 kilograms of caster sugar crafted into a colourful floor installation.
As the art works were moved back into place, the gallery was also preparing for an influx of visitors.
Over the last three months volunteer co-ordinator Rebecca Ogle has been training 17 new volunteer guides who will join the 30 or so remaining original guides.
She said there was a lot for the new guides to learn, and for the experienced guides to refamiliarise themselves with.
Ms Ogle said the guides had been coming in for weekly training sessions to get used to the gallery and learn about the new exhibition.
"I'm sure they are all a bit daunted. Just on Monday, so less than a week before the reopening, I took them all for a familiarisation around the gallery, but we still couldn't access some areas."
But Ms Ogle said for visitors and guides alike there would be plenty of old favourites that they will remember from when the gallery was open in previous years.
The gallery doors will reopen to the public from 10am Saturday.
