Robert McDougall's Generosity Funds Art Gallery Construction

This building, the Robert McDougall Gallery, is considered one of Ōtautahi Christchurch’s most significant heritage buildings. It’s been closed since the February 2011 earthquake, when it was assessed as earthquake-prone. But strengthening work is happening now, and the plan is to restore it, make it safe, and reopen it as part of Canterbury’s art scene.

The gallery is named after Robert McDougall, a Christchurch businessman. Before this building existed, people here mostly saw art at the Museum or at Canterbury Society of Arts exhibitions. In the 1920s, the Christchurch City Council wanted a dedicated public art gallery, but in 1925, a public vote rejected taking out a loan to build one.

That’s where Robert McDougall came in. He made his money with the biscuit manufacturing company Aulsebrooks and was known for his philanthropy. His obituary in *The Press* in 1942 mentioned that many charitable institutions in town benefited from him. He even set up a welfare league for his factory staff and provided a library, tennis courts, and a bowling green for them.

McDougall offered to fund the gallery's construction if the Council provided the land. Edward Armstrong won the architectural competition with a neoclassical brick design, and the building was finished in 1932. The total cost was £31,745, and McDougall paid almost all of it. When he received the final check, Mayor Daniel Sullivan said the city now had one of the finest art galleries in the Dominion, and it was pleasing that it was free from debt.

The gallery initially held about 160 works, mostly from the Canterbury Society of Arts. Over time, the city’s public art collection grew too large for this building, and the Robert McDougall Gallery closed in 2002. It was replaced by the Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū, which opened in 2003.

The Museum then used this building from 2003, hosting various art exhibitions. In late 2010, *The Heart of the Great Alone*, an exhibition of historic Antarctic photography, opened here. That exhibition was still running on February 22, 2011, when the earthquake hit. Luckily, none of the photos were damaged, though one book got minor damage to its spine.

After the quakes, structural assessments found the building was below 34% of New Zealand Building Code requirements due to its unreinforced, single-skin internal brick walls. As a public building, it has stricter code requirements, and it was deemed unsafe for public use, leading to its closure for over a decade.

The Christchurch City Council has now leased the building to the Museum and is providing funding for its strengthening. The redevelopment will bring the building up to 100% of code. The first stage, inserting steel rods into the walls, has already begun. This will make the building safe for workers for the next stage, which is base isolation. Base isolation is the only way to bring it to 100% of code, protecting the building, people, and artworks, and enabling loans of major touring art from overseas.