Christchurch building million dollar historical site

The Provincial Chambers Building in central Christchurch after the 6.3 earthquake. Photo / Simon Baker

A prized piece of Christchurch's history is one of a select few sites worldwide to be backed in a multi-million dollar international heritage project.

The earthquake-damaged Canterbury Provincial Government Buildings are one of six historic sites to benefit from $1 million in grants announced by the World Monuments Fund.

It is the first allocation from a $5 million, five-year grant from sponsor American Express to support the sites listed in the World Monuments Watch list for 2012.

Built in the mid-19th century, the High Victorian Gothic Revival buildings in Christchurch remained relatively unchanged through the twentieth century, and were an important tourist attraction.

They were used as an educational and event space until the February 2011 earthquake caused the buildings' 1865 stone chamber to collapse and reduced large sections of the buildings to rubble.

The funding from the World Monuments Fund will "support efforts to restore salvaged artefacts and to promote the future rebuilding of the Canterbury Provincial Government Buildings, helping to ensure that the buildings' heritage lives on for generations to come".

The New Zealand Historic Places Trust says the chamber interior of the buildings are held in "high acclaim" worldwide.

"In a New Zealand context, the Provincial Government Buildings are unique, and to see them in their current state is very sad indeed," said the trust's former southern region general manager Malcolm Duff.

The backing of the World Monuments Fund would raise the landmark's plight at an international level and assist with fundraising initiatives and getting expert assistance, Mr Duff said.

A programme of partial deconstruction is underway to make the buildings safe and to retrieve historic material.

Future options for the building will be considered by the Christchurch City Council, with the Minister of Conservation's sign-off.

The New York-based World Monuments Fund is the leading independent organisation dedicated to saving the world's most treasured places.

Other 2012 watch list projects to receive funding are the Ruta de la Amistad in Mexico City, Mexico; Salvador de Bahia, Brazil; Balaji Ghat in Varanasi, India; the ruins of the former Cathedral of Saint Michael in Coventry, United Kingdom; and the town of Sawara in Japan.