Eighty years on: St. Matthews in the city, Auckland: an historic building in continuing use

Abstract

Starting from the assumption that historic (or merely old) buildings should be kept, and if possible kept in use, this report looks at St Matthews as an example of such a building. It covers initially a description of the building, its setting and a summary history of the parish and building since 1905. Once this context has been established it looks at the current parish and user groups and their attitudes to the building, and how they perceive it affecting their activities. The statutory mechanisms for the protection of buildings are then set out, with a description of the present nature and operations of the Historic Places Trust as the national preservation body and the Auckland City Council's role locally through the application of its district scheme. The likely future of the building is then considered in the light of the above constraints and conclusions regarding both the preservation of St Matthews in particular and noteworthy buildings in general are drawn. In the case of St Matthews a strong attitude in favour of preservation already exists and the problems centre on the financial costs and the question of who pays, who ought to pay and the effect of outside funding on the autonomy of the church.