Wikipedia talk:WikiProject New Zealand/Christchurch Taskforce

Suburbs project
I notice that @Alexeyevitch has suggested we work on improving articles for the suburbs. I think this is a great idea. A while ago I updated the article for Redwood, Christchurch as that is where I live. Alexeyevitch has already nominated Southshore, New Zealand for GA.

If there is consensus support for making that a project we could create some templates or guidelines to speed along the work. David Palmer// cloventt (talk) 22:04, 30 May 2024 (UTC)


 * Related to this, I've noticed an inconsistent naming scheme for Suburbs of Christchurch articles. Some have a disambiguator of 'Christchurch' (such as Merivale, Christchurch, whereas others use 'New Zealand' (such as Southshore, New Zealand. I think we should move toward using 'Christchurch' as the disambiguator, as it is more specific and descriptive than using 'New Zealand'. David Palmer// cloventt (talk) 22:09, 30 May 2024 (UTC)
 * The reason Southshore and Merivale have different disambiguators is because there are two articles for places named Merivale in New Zealand (the one in Christchurch, and the one in Tauranga). There is only one article for a place name for Southshore, so it is just disambiguated with "New Zealand". Take a look at WP:PLACEDAB, in particular the sentence . ―Panamitsu (talk) 00:27, 31 May 2024 (UTC)
 * Seems to actually be an established and quite specific convention under WP:NCNZ:
 * Disambiguation required for populated place – For populated places where confusion is likely with places outside New Zealand (including suburbs), then the format "Placename, New Zealand" is used (for example, Amberley, New Zealand).
 * Sad times. David Palmer// cloventt (talk) 02:02, 31 May 2024 (UTC)
 * I would be eager to push more suburbs up to B-Class. Alexeyevitch (talk) 00:37, 31 May 2024 (UTC)

Architecture
At a recent meetup @Giantflightlessbirds gave out some copies of Ōtautahi Christchurch Architecture: A Walking Guide by John Walsh. This book covers seventy-nine notable buildings in Christchurch, and is up-to-date including some that are quite modern. The list is:


 * Christchurch Arts Centre comprising the old Boy's High School, Clock Tower Block, Great Hall, Chemistry Laboratory, Canterbury College Library, Biology and Physics Building, and the Registry. Each of these buildings could get a section in the parent article at least.
 * Ravenscar House Museum
 * Christ's College, Christchurch comprising the Assembly Hall, Old Boys' Theatre, Jacobs House, School House, Hare Memorial Library, Big School, Chapel, Harper and Julius Houses, and the Memorial Dining Room. Each of these could be covered under the Campus section.
 * Canterbury Museum, Christchurch (note this is currently undergoing renovation).
 * Robert McDougall Art Gallery
 * '''Christchurch Botanic Gardens
 * '''Christchurch Botanic Gardens
 * Christchurch Art Gallery
 * Centre of Contemporary Art
 * 151 Cambridge Terrace, Christchurch
 * Worcester Chambers
 * Canterbury Club
 * Te Hononga Christchurch Civic Building, home of the Christchurch City Council, formerly a mail sorting facility. Could possible be included as a section in the council's article.
 * 65 Cambridge Terrace
 * Canterbury Earthquake National Memorial
 * Church of St Michael and All Angels, Christchurch
 * Bridge of Remembrance
 * The Terrace, Christchurch
 * 77 Hereford Street, aka the Brother Building.
 * Public Trust Building, Christchurch
 * Our City, Christchurch though I think that name has lapsed and it is returning to be the Municipal Chambers.
 * Canterbury Provincial Council Buildings
 * Justice and Emergency Services Precinct
 * Christchurch Bus Interchange
 * Ao Tawhiti could use a section on the building.
 * Atlas Quarter at 36 Welles St, corner of Manchester and St Asaph.
 * P & D Duncan Building
 * Environment Canterbury
 * Boxed Quarter
 * Duncan's Buildings and the neighbouring 135 High St.
 * A.J. White's Department Store, partially demolished but some of the facade still stands.
 * Post and Telegraph Office, current home of C1 Espresso and Alice in Videoland, Christchurch.
 * Stranges Building, includes Stranges Lane.
 * New Regent Street
 * Isaac Theatre Royal
 * Te Pae Christchurch Convention Centre article needs a lot of work.
 * Tūranga
 * Christ Church Cathedral, Christchurch
 * Old Government Building, Christchurch
 * 2 Cathedral Square, or perhaps better Spark Building, Christchurch.
 * East Frame, Christchurch is the area of medium-to-high density housing going in between Manchester Street and Latimer Square. Probably a good time to write a contemporary history of this as the development companies are all still talking themselves up a bit online.
 * Cardboard Cathedral
 * Christchurch Club
 * MED Building opposite Margaret Mahy Playground (which is also in the book).
 * Oxford Terrace Baptist Church
 * Christchurch Law Courts to the west of Victoria Square, Christchurch.
 * Christchurch Town Hall
 * Rose Historic Chapel
 * St Mary's Apartments, Christchurch
 * Knox Church, Christchurch
 * Dorset Street Flats
 * Victoria Clock Tower
 * Peterborough Centre
 * Cathedral Grammar School lacks a section on the architecture.
 * College House (University of Canterbury) is currently a redirect to the uni but the article has little mention of it.
 * Angus Tait Building, University of Canterbury
 * Puaka–James Hight Building
 * Matariki Registry Building, University of Canterbury
 * Jack Erskine Building, University of Canterbury
 * Ernest Rutherford Building, University of Canterbury
 * Beatrice Tinsley Building, University of Canterbury
 * Jane Soons Building, University of Canterbury
 * Rehua, University of Canterbury
 * John Britten Building, University of Canterbury

The buildings at UC could each just be a subsection under the Ilam campus.

This list is obviously not complete when compared to the List of historic places in Christchurch and Category:Buildings and structures in Christchurch. Perhaps a good start would be to re-ASSESS the existing articles in this list to identify ones that would most benefit from improvement. David Palmer// cloventt (talk) 23:31, 30 May 2024 (UTC)


 * I would be happy to help create UC building pages! MitchellMatchbox (talk) 12:23, 15 June 2024 (UTC)

Useful sources on Christchurch history
At the latest Christchurch meetup @Giantflightlessbirds brought along two books on Christchurch history that may be very useful resources for us:



Southern Capital is a very good collection of essays on Christchurch history by notable local historians and geographers:

David Palmer// cloventt (talk) 03:24, 9 June 2024 (UTC)
 * Chapter 2, 9 and 10 are about the history of Ngāi Tahu and their relationship with the city.
 * Chapter 3 (Confronting Nature by Eric Pawson) covers the waterways, flood control and smog of Christchurch, which are topics I think @Marshelec had mentioned as important.
 * Chapter 4 (Outward and Upward by David McIntyre) would be useful for covering the town planning and urban sprawl of Christchurch, as well as the history of the architecture from neo-Gothic to Brutalist.
 * Chapters 7 and 8 by Jim McAloon cover the social structure of the city, both from the perspective of radical leftism and "elitist" land-owners.
 * Chapter 11 (A Geography of Governance by Peter Perry) would be very useful for @Schwede66's project on the history of local government amalgamations in Christchurch. I've also found out John Cookson has written a very thorough history on the subject, but has been struggling to secure a publisher.


 * I would think that the three volumes in the History of Canterbury is the most relevant work, eg .  Schwede 66  07:44, 9 June 2024 (UTC)

Suburbs
We had a disscuson on suburbs in the recent meetup. I realized that it would be a lot easier to get articles up to B-Class or GA standard if there are multiple book sources relating to that area/suburb. Addington and Riccarton could reach a similar standard. I will prioritize the Southshore article at the moment. Alexeyevitch (talk) 09:42, 11 June 2024 (UTC)