Warner's Hotel

File:William Francis Warner.jpg

The Commercial and Dining Rooms were established by John Etherden Coker (1832–1894) in 1863.{{cite web|title=William Francis Warner (1836–1896)|url=http://christchurchcitylibraries.com/heritage/photos/disc8/IMG0100.asp|publisher=Christchurch City Libraries|access-date=4 April 2011}} William Francis Warner (1836–1896){{cite web|title=Roper's Store, Normans Road, Bryndwr, Christchurch|url= http://christchurchcitylibraries.com/Heritage/Photos/Disc7/IMG0061.asp |publisher=Christchurch City Libraries|access-date=4 April 2011}} was either the third proprietor from 1874, or the second proprietor from 1873,{{cite news|title=The Late Mr Warner|url=http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=TS18960302.2.24.2|access-date=4 April 2011|work=The Star|date=2 March 1896|issue=5503|page=2}} and the establishment was known as Warner's Hotel from the mid-1870s. Warner, described as "the patriarch among licensed victuallers in Christchurch", drowned in a boating accident on the Avon Heathcote Estuary in 1896.{{cite web|last=Greenaway| first=Richard L.N.| title=Waimairi Cemetery|url= http://christchurchcitylibraries.com/Heritage/Cemeteries/Waimairi/WaimairiCemeteryWalk.pdf |access-date=4 April 2011|page=9|date=October 2002}} The three resulting funerals were a big event in Christchurch, and Prime Minister Richard Seddon sent flowers to Warner's funeral.{{cite web|last=Greenaway|first=Richard L. N.|title=Bromley Cemetery Tour |url= http://christchurchcitylibraries.com/Heritage/Cemeteries/Bromley/BromleyCemetery.pdf |access-date=4 April 2011|page=27|date=June 2007}}

A fire broke out at Warner's Hotel on the evening of 24 April 1900. The wooden portion of the building was destroyed, but the modern part was still habitable. After the fire crews had left, the fire ignited again. The fire threatened at one point to ignite the adjacent original building of the Lyttelton Times, but apart from some windows broken by the intense heat, nothing happened.{{cite news|title=Fires. Outbreak in Warner's Hotel|url=http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=TS19000326.2.32|access-date=4 April 2011|work=The Star|date=26 March 1900|issue=6753|page=4}}

The licence for the hotel was transferred to Percy Arthur Herman, an experienced proprietor from the North Island, in March 1901.{{cite news|title=Licensing Committees|url= http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=TS19010306.2.57 |access-date=4 April 2011|work=The Star|date=6 March 1901|issue=7041|page=3}} Herman engaged architect Joseph Maddison to design a new building for the site, who chose a Victorian Free Classical architecture style in the palazzo genre. The façade utilised a grand central entrance with a pediment and balustraded parapets on either side, representing typical use of classical symmetry.{{NZHPT|7384|Warner's Hotel|6 April 2011}} The new hotel, with over 120 rooms, was opened on 29 October 1901.{{cite news |title=Warner's New Hotel|url= http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=TS19011026.2.93 |access-date=4 April 2011|work=The Star|date=26 October 1901|issue=7238|page=6}}

Herman, together with solicitor Walter Cresswell, commissioned architects Sidney and Alfred Luttrell to design what became known as the Royal Exchange, and what is these days known as the Regent Theatre, on the opposite site of Cathedral Square. That building was constructed in 1905.{{NZHPT|1918|Regent Theatre Building|6 April 2011}} Earlier, in 1902, the Luttrell Brothers had been engaged by the publishers of the Lyttelton Times to design new headquarters on their existing site. The new Lyttelton Times Building was built immediately adjacent to Warner's Hotel and opened in 1904. Initially, Warner's Hotel rented some of the rooms on the upper floors as additional hotel rooms, but this venture folded in 1905, as the printing presses kept the guests awake at night.{{NZHPT|7216|Lyttelton Times Building|6 April 2011}}{{cite web|last=May|first=Jenny|title=Uncertain Future For City Landmarks|url= http://archived.ccc.govt.nz/ourenvironment/15/land.asp |publisher=Christchurch City Council|access-date=6 April 2011}}

Herman engaged the Luttrell Brothers again in 1910 for an expansion of his hotel, and he got them to design another floor. The architectural integrity of the Cathedral Square façade was kept by shifting the entrance pediment up by one floor, and by reinstating the balustraded parapets. In 1917, however, the symmetry of the façade was destroyed by the decision to have the north end of the hotel demolished. In its place, the Liberty Theatre (later known as the Savoy Theatre) was built, and it was to act as a noise buffer between the hotel patrons and the printing presses of the Lyttelton Times, which kept them awake at night. The Savoy Theatre was later registered as a Category II building by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust, but it was demolished in 1993.{{cite news|last=Killick |first=David |title=Where is the vision for Christchurch? |work=The Press |date=19 December 2006}}

In the 1960s, the pediment and the parapets were removed from Warner's Hotel. The gap left by the demolished Savoy developed into a beer garden, and it became a popular place.{{cite web|title=LIBERTY THEATRE AKA: SAVOY [1917–1993]|url=http://www.canterburyfilmsociety.org.nz/localcinemas/libertysavoy.html|publisher=Canterbury Filmsociety|access-date=6 April 2011}} One regular patron was Green Party co-leader Rod Donald, and after his funeral in the adjacent ChristChurch Cathedral on 10 November 2005, his wake was held in the beer garden.{{cite news|last=Smith |first=Cullen|title= Christchurch at standstill for Donald funeral|url= http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10354561 |access-date=6 April 2011 |work=The New Zealand Herald |date=10 November 2005}}

Warner's Hotel was under the threat of demolition from the 1960s until 2000, when property investor and developer Gordon Chamberlain, director of Crystal Imports, purchased the building from Angus Macfarlane.{{cite news|title=Warner's Historic Hotel to Be Upgraded|url=http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU0611/S00323.htm|access-date=6 April 2011|work=Scoop|date=16 November 2006}}{{cite news|last=Hutching|first=Chris|title=New owner secures historic pub's future|url=http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/new-owner-secures-historic-pub-s-future|access-date=6 April 2011|work=National Business Review|date=14 November 2006}} A 14-storey Novotel hotel was built on the site of the beer garden behind a replica of the hotel's original 1910 façade. The new hotel, designed by CDA Architecture opened in January 2010.{{cite web |url=http://www.fletcherconstruction.co.nz/projects.php?id=300&action=search&projectname=Warners%20Novotel%20Hotel |title=Fletcher Construction Projects - Warners Novotel Hotel |website=www.fletcherconstruction.co.nz |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140527215631/http://www.fletcherconstruction.co.nz/projects.php?id=300&action=search&projectname=Warners%20Novotel%20Hotel |archive-date=2014-05-27}}

On 24 April 1997, the building was registered by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust as a Category II historic place, with the registration number 7384. The building was recognised due to its contribution of the street scape in this part of Cathedral Square, being one of the number of heritage buildings in the quadrant. In terms of cultural significance, it was an important meeting place for businesses and community groups. Until the 1900s, it was also a transport terminus.

Crystal Imports owns five properties in the central city, including the Chief Post Office and Warner's. At least two of those properties are likely to be demolished having suffered significant damage in the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake, including Warner's Hotel.{{cite news|last=Heather |first=Ben |title=Landlords may be forced to sell at loss|work=The Press |date=19 May 2011|page=A3}}{{cite news|last=Wood| first=Alan|title= Moves afoot to reopen Marque in March|url= http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/business/christchurch-business/5496503/Moves-afoot-to-reopen-Marque-in-March |access-date=25 August 2011 |work=The Press |date=24 August 2011|page=A13}} In September 2011, Warner's Hotel became part of the political discussion, with Brendon Burns arguing that it should be retained, after the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority had ordered its demolition and Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee refusing to intervene in heritage demolition decisions.{{cite news|last=Heather|first=Ben|title=Historic Places Trust 'gutless' in face of Cera|url= http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/5689202/Historic-Places-Trust-gutless-in-face-of-Cera |access-date=4 February 2012|work=The Press |date=27 September 2011}} By early November, Warner's had been demolished.{{cite web |title=Warner's Hotel after demolition, 5 Nov 2011 |url= http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Warner%27s_Hotel_after_demolition,_5_Nov_2011.jpg |publisher=Commons|access-date=4 February 2012}}

The Novotel hotel reopened on 19 August 2013 after 18 months of repairs.{{cite news |title=Novotel almost ready to reopen doors |first=Alan |last=Wood |url= http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/business/the-rebuild/8974633/Novotel-almost-ready-to-reopen-doors |agency=Fairfax NZ News |work=The Press |date=29 July 2013 |access-date=4 May 2014}}{{cite news |title=Novotel Christchurch celebrates reopening |url= http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/AK1308/S00688/novotel-christchurch-celebrates-reopening.htm |work=Scoop |date=22 August 2013 |access-date=4 May 2014}} In February 2016, it was reported that Chamberlain had recently been granted resource consent for rebuilding Warner's Hotel. But like many of the neighbouring owners, he was not going ahead at this point in time because of the uncertainty around the large critical projects nearby, i.e. the future of ChristChurch Cathedral, Christchurch and the stalled Convention Centre Precinct in the north-west quadrant of the Square.{{cite news |last1=McDonald |first1=Liz |title=Warner's Hotel rebuild plan in doubt |url= http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/business/the-rebuild/77242470/Heritage-rebuild-plan-in-doubt-over-Square-inaction |access-date=6 February 2017 |work=The Press |date=27 February 2016 |page=A3}}

File:Warner's Hotel and Lyttelton Times Company, 1920.jpg|Warner's Hotel between 1904 (completion of the Lyttelton Times Building) and 1910, when another storey was added to the hotel

File:Cathedral Square, 1910 detail.jpg|Warner's Hotel with the fourth storey added (built in 1910) and with the façade still symmetrical (until 1917)

File:Christ Church Cathedral and Cathedral Square, 1926.jpg|Warner's Hotel in 1926, with the Liberty Theatre built as a buffer to the Lyttelton Times Building

File:Warner's Hotel, 2007.jpg|Warner's Hotel in 2007 including the beer garden before construction of the Novotel began

File:Dining room, Warner's Hotel.jpg|Historic photo of the dining room of Warner's Hotel

{{Reflist}}

{{commons category|Warner's Hotel}}

• [http://www1.ccc.govt.nz/council/proceedings/2011/october/cnclcover27th/11.Attachment.pdf Christchurch City Council] heritage assessment

{{Christchurch earthquakes}}

Category:Hotel buildings completed in 1901

Category:Heritage New Zealand Category 2 historic places in the Canterbury Region

Category:Skyscrapers in Christchurch

Category:Buildings and structures demolished as a result of the 2011 Christchurch earthquake

Category:Skyscraper hotels in New Zealand

Category:Cathedral Square, Christchurch

Category:Sidney and Alfred Luttrell buildings