“Where you tend a rose my lad,
a thistle cannot grow”
The Secret Garden
Deciding to live in Christchurch city at the start of 2015 was exciting for me, as I was keen to try and be a small part of the historic rebuild following the 2011 earthquake, that would re-shape the face of the city.
The rebuild would strengthen and restore old damaged buildings to their former glory and build cleverly designed new ones, creating a stronger and more resilient Christchurch for the 21st century. I had no knowledge of how the city used to be, and had heard no accounts or reminiscing of the ‘old’ times.
Reading and watching documentaries about the history of the city changed that to quite an extent, as gradually I was able to imagine where buildings had once proudly stood and what they would have looked like in all their grand, traditional splendour.
I came to realise that the stretch of vacant land I walked past every day to get to my gym and previously didn’t even notice, was the site of the CTV building, where 115 people had perished that day on 22 February 2011. I read witness accounts of the day the earthquake hit, some from people in the now dark and abandoned building opposite the CTV site, who saw the building collapse, as well as various other stories from all over the city, each harrowing or sad in their own way.
At a dinner with the couple I had stayed with when I first arrived in the city, the talk turned to old memories of Christchurch, and the weekends they had spent in Poplar Lane and SOL (South of Lichfield) Square, areas which due to the earthquake were damaged and put inside the central city cordon.
In the early 2000s a collection of inner-city warehouses had been transformed into SOL Square, which was a bustling entertainment hub of Christchurch. In a city I thought I was now quite familiar with, the name sounded so foreign to me, with Victoria Street now being a main area for nightlife and entertainment.
The next day I asked Michael to show me where these old places were. SOL Square I found, had been right under my nose all along, on a plot of land right next to where the new bus station is now situated, and near the popular night spot Strange’s Lane and the new Dux Central bar that recently opened a few months ago.
We walked around to an alleyway entrance of the square on the west side, now boarded up with 7ft high wooden fencing. A square sign saying ‘SOL Square’ hung solemnly on the corner of a derelict building nearby. I must have been past that sign over a hundred times before on the bus, every day going home from work, but I had never noticed it, blind to the hushed-up ghosts of the city’s past.
I tried to peek through a gap in the fence but all I could make out was a small shady overgrown square at the other end of an uninviting, deserted alleyway, with grass sprouting through the pavement, and decaying buildings displaying an array of graffiti on the walls and dirty windows. How could this have once been an entertainment hot spot, bustling with restaurants, bars and nightclubs?
We walked around to the east side, now the edge of a large dusty gravel car park. Apparently on this site had stood several historic, character buildings with decorative façades facing on to a laneway housing trendy design shops, including one called ‘Gas’ – once part-owned by the All Blacks player Dan Carter. Being so familiar in this part of the city with the current landscape of bland grey concrete, loose stones and large empty spaces, I found it hard to envision a scene filled with crowds of people, vibrant alleyways and a plethora of shops, cafes, bars and restaurants.
His Lordships Lane, with the shop Gas on the right. This lane, along with Struthers Lane adjacent ahead and Poplar Lane a 5 minute walk away made up the Lichfield Lanes, as they were often referred to, with SOL Square as the centre.
A high metal fence blocked off the entrance to the square here too, but I managed to climb up on to a large cast iron tree pot in order to see over the top. I felt hopeful anticipation about what I was about to see, maybe in the same way a child feels that intrigue and excitement of discovering a long-lost secret garden hidden behind tall brick walls or shrouded by thick hedgerows, waiting patiently for loving restoration. But here there was no happy discovery to make, just one of sadness, wonder and dismay, and no hope to be offered, or restoration in sight.
The square sat before me, small, quiet, forgotten. I could see more clearly now the green mossy grass that sprouted up in small clumps and creeped its way along the brick paving, unkempt and uncared for. Various graffiti adorned the walls and windows, and large wooden boards stubbornly veiled the once bright and inviting doorways, concealing the view to their interiors. Rubbish and pieces of wood littered the edges, and curls of barbed wire coated the corners. Streams of lights hung from the walls, untouched for years, and signs that once proudly displayed the building’s identity now hung sombrely, weathered and decaying.
Higher up some windows were broken or smashed, and even the little red mini which faithfully clung to the side of the concrete wall – and which would have been such a quirky fixture in its prime, I could see now had not escaped the graffiti vandals. The opposite wall was a pale, faded mustard shade, still adorned with the decoration of sharp black music notes, now seen by nobody except for those from afar, searching longingly for old memories over the rooftops.
My heart weighed heavily with sadness with the realisation that, in one day, in one moment, the ground would have swiftly shaken and changed the lives of everyone in the city forever. And this little pocket of Christchurch, that no doubt would have been a central meeting point for so many people on a weekly basis, along with so many other areas throughout the city, was now left wasting away behind tall wooden boards and corrugated iron fencing. The old crumbling architecture with its many patterns and textures, reminded me how everything in this world is impermanent, and just how suddenly and violently life can change.
We then walked over to the Dux Central bar, sitting rather forlornly on its own, and I saw that this empty street was Poplar Lane. I just couldn’t imagine what would have been here before, the land around it was now bare and brown, apart from a couple of diggers and long wire fencing.
Unlike SOL Square, Poplar Lane is finally being rebuilt.
Poplar Lane as it looks today. The tram tracks are visible in the bottom right of the photo.
The same stretch of Poplar Lane in the past, tram tracks again visible. (Image courtesy of ketechristchurch.peoplesnetworknz.info).
Back home I quickly set about researching the places I had visited. Seeing the photos of how SOL Square used to look I was further saddened by what it had become, yet astonished by what it once was, pulsing with pedestrian traffic, bursting with lights and colour, crowds of people out and about enjoying their evening under the dark night sky.
Poplar Lane also once boasted many beautiful and iconic old buildings, and the site where the Dux Central bar now stands was once the old Twisted Hop craft brewery and No 8 bar next to it.
The new Dux Central bar.
The building as it used to look. (Image by Hilary Lakeman courtesy of highstreetstories.co.nz).
Over a few parts of Google Maps concerning Christchurch, placing the little orange man onto the map will take you ‘back in time’, transporting your view from the empty lot that stood before you in the present day, to whatever grand church or building once occupied that spot before the earthquake.
One minute I was on Manchester street, looking at the crumbling facade of the French La Petite-Croix café, now peeling, derelict, boarded up and fenced off, with its string of black lights hanging sadly along the wall, and with the tap of a button on Google maps over Struthers Lane an exciting evening scene was revealed, the café now very much alive, a warm glow illuminating the people inside and the previously dead lights on the outside wall shining up in bright electric blue.
Reaching SOL Square on Google maps a daytime scene lay before me. Twinkling lights hung brightly overhead, the shop signs clear and gleaming. Small neat tables and chairs stretched across the square, no mossy grass in sight, just colourful tubs of plants placed carefully along the walkway. The whole area was inviting, warm and cosy. Looking at it I felt loss for something I had never experienced.
SOL Square present day.
A lively evening memory of SOL Square. (Image courtesy of teara.govt.nz).
(Image courtesy of kaptchatheworld.com).
Talking to Michael afterwards about his experience (as a Christchurch resident of several years), he said he didn’t feel sadness or shock when looking over the wall but more – disappointment, knowing how long it’s been since this area was in use. He remembered back to when people used to talk about the square a lot in the year after the earthquake, but over the years as it’s become less fresh in people’s minds, you rarely hear about it now.
La Petite-Croix cafe from afar, present day.
La Petite-Croix cafe back in its prime. (Image courtesy of skyscrapercity.com: user eastadl).
So what’s in the future for SOL Square? Reports from the last couple of months say that despite interest from potential developers, the owner remains locked in a multimillion-dollar court battle as the once lively complex is laid to waste. The buildings have been left to wither and rot while insurance claims (like for many of Christchurch’s buildings) continue to be disputed.
Just two weeks after this blog post was mostly written, a fire thought to be deliberately started possibly by squatters, ravaged one of SOL Square’s main buildings causing it to have to be torn down. In a city where the landscape is on a daily basis now ever-changing and where many locals cannot remember what the central city used to look like, the building in question was said to have been capable of being repaired which is all the more saddening. This demonstrates why things must get moving in order for SOL Square to be restored to its former glory before any further damage or neglect is caused.
One of the derelict buildings being pulled down after the fire (now completely demolished). The SOL Square corner sign is the same one I am looking up at in the photo at the start of this blog.
Going back two or three years ago reports spoke with excitement about the possibility of the square finally being redeveloped, but year after year nothing has been brought to fruition. What a joy it would be to see the life restored to this little corner of Christchurch and hear the buzz of the city’s people echoing off its walls once again.
Yet, despite these seemingly forgotten lost pockets of old Christchurch, there is the excitement and hope for the future and a revived city. Whether old and crumbling or new and shiny a city is much more than just the bricks and mortar. It is the people, and I’ve seen clearly in my time living here that the people of Christchurch have not let go of the memory of what was great about their city. It is a city now more than ever, of opportunity, and an opportunity for all to become part of something new, and growing.
I hope SOL Square will soon be given its opportunity – that it has long and patiently waited for these past few years; the opportunity to be restored, looked after, and to be loved again.
(Image courtesy of www.wannatour.com).
Please feel free to leave any comments you have below. What were your impressions upon seeing the square as it looks now, compared to when it was in use? What are your memories of this area of Christchurch if you have any, and what are your hopes for the future? I’d love to hear any thoughts.
Anjuli x