In the vision statement of their Te Ngākau Civic Precinct Framework, Wellington City Council describe Te Ngākau as “the beating heart of our capital city.” It is true that several key public institutions converge around the urban square—the art gallery, library, convention centre, town hall, and the council offices themselves—imagined as a catchment for exercising one’s citizenry, whether culturally or administratively. Following the council’s choice of metaphor, however, the precinct appears as something of a vital sign for the city at large, its many buildings closed due to seismic damage or risk being only the start of Pōneke’s infrastructural challenges.

While many of those buildings are scheduled for or currently undergoing repair, it was announced in October that the City to Sea pedestrian bridge (1994), designed by architects John Gray and the late Rewi Thompson with artist Paratene Matchitt, will face demolition due to the untenable expense of earthquake strengthening (estimated at $90 to $120 million). This comes despite the Framework’s commitment to remaking the precinct in a way that reflects “Wellington’s unique culture and identity” and “specifically … mana whenua and Te Ao Māori.” Gray, Thompson and Matchitt’s design is an elaborate (and idiosyncratic) exercise in architectural storytelling, connecting the urban space with the harbour both literally and metaphysically. There’s Matt Pine’s Ōamaru stone maunga, wearing its cap of pounamu, to conjure the peaks of Te Waka a Māui, from which the North Island was fished out of the water by its head, the Wellington Region, known as Te Ūpoko-o-te-ika-a-Māui. On the bridge’s northern flank, two timber whales represent Ngake and Whātaitai, the taniwha storied to have shaped the city’s harbour. The declaration has been controversial, igniting kickback from architects, Public Art Heritage and everyday Wellingtonians who wish to save the bridge.

Public submissions on the two proposals under consultation closed 13 November, with final decisions to be made by 5 December. Notably, neither option entails restoration: the bridge will be replaced by either a pedestrian crossing, or a pedestrian crossing and a new bridge.