Thousands of flowers and messages of support left in tribute of the Christchurch mosque terror attack victims are being cleared up. Photo / Alan Gibson
Thousands of flowers and messages of support left in tribute of the Christchurch mosque terror attack victims are being cleared up. Photo / Alan Gibson
A sea of thousands of flowers spanning hundreds of meters placed in tribute to the Christchurch mosque shooting victims will start to be cleared today.
Thousands of people have laid bouquets, cards, messages, toys, and other tributes along Rolleston Avenue in central Christchurch over the last three-and-a-half weeks as away of expressing their sorrow and support for all those affected by the March 15 terror attacks.
But now, with the agreement of the Muslim community, the process of removing the sprawling, poignant flower wall running along the Botanic Gardens fence will begin at lunchtime today.
"It has been heart-warming to see the contributions to the wall growing daily but we have reached a point where we need to start removing some of the older flowers and tributes," Christchurch Botanic Gardens director Wolfgang Bopp said.
The tributes will first be taken to a sorting room across the road at the Arts Centre where a team of University of Canterbury students and other volunteers will carefully separate the various items, with the aim of making a digital record of the tributes.
Wilted flowers and other organic material will be separated and composted, which will then be set aside so it can be used in the future by the city's mosques.
Canterbury Museum wants to add some of the flowers and tributes to their collection, "subject to detailed agreement with the Muslim community".
Any messages or tributes that are addressed to a specific person will be offered to the respective family.
The remaining messages and tributes will be placed into long-term storage for possible use by the community at a later stage.
Toys that are still in good condition will be cleaned and also put aside for potential future use.
"These tributes now form part of our collective history and we want to handle them all with care and respect," Bopp said.
"They are an expression of our shared sadness at the loss of 50 members of our community but also a tribute to all the support across the country and the world. It is important that we deal with them sensitively."
People are still welcome to place new flowers along Rolleston Ave.
