The historic hub and heart of Craighead Diocesan School is set to beat again after more than a decade.
Shand House, a category 2 heritage building, has served as the central hub of the school since it was first opened in 1911 by sisters Eleanor, Fanny, Elizabeth and Anna Shand.
After being damaged in the 2011 Christchurch earthquake and subsequently closed, a project to restore and redevelop the building began in December 2022 with the demolition of C2 — the original building that Shand House had been an addition to.
Craighead principal Lara Hearn-Rollo said the project was close to completion.
‘‘We’re nearly there. I don’t want to put a date on it exactly, but we are due to finish in the early new year.
‘‘We had always planned to be done by term one of 2026, and fingers crossed that continues. We’ve been fortunate in that we haven’t had massive holdups or anything along those lines.
‘‘Communication and things have been very smooth with Henderson [Building], they’ve been a very good team.’’
Shand House was originally built in 1875 under the supervision of surveyor and owner Henry Sealy.
Fifteen years later, the property was purchased by Henry Le Cren, who then named it ‘‘Craighead’’ after a castle owned by his brother-in-law in Scotland.
In 1910, the property went on the market and was snapped up by the four Shand sisters, who then established it as a girls’ school.
Ms Hearn-Rollo said it had been a great and important project to be a part of.
‘‘It has been awesome to see it come to life again. We’ve had two or three cohorts of girls go through that have never seen Shand — it’s bringing back the heart of the school.
‘‘The building has been there for 150 years, so we want to ensure that it is there for another 150 years.’’
The redeveloped Shand House will serve as the boarding reception area and have a formal meeting room and sick bay, as well as a games room and overnight rooms for supervisors.
The building will also act as a centre link between the junior and senior boarding wings, allowing for internal access between wings for boarders.
Craighead Diocesan School chief operations manager Renae Churchward said they had made some interesting discoveries during the renovation.
‘‘We’ve had great fun and also found some amazing things in the walls. We found an old stationery invoice dating back to the month that Craighead had actually started and it was pristine.
‘‘There’s been some really remarkable and readable finds like letters under the floorboards that we are trying to trace and get back to families.’’
It had been exciting to redevelop the building, she said.
‘‘A lot of heritage buildings are often too far gone but we’ve had brilliant bones to be able to work with. It is the most incredibly built building.
‘‘We’ve been very careful to preserve as much of the history within Shand as we can, like the intricate character mouldings and the big bay and sash windows.
‘‘It’s been important to do that because it is the key centrepiece for Craighead, but it is also really important in the history of Timaru.’’
While the total cost of the project was commercially sensitive, Mrs Churchward said a fundraising campaign had been launched to help finish the project.
‘‘We’re seeking support from our families and from anyone connected to Craighead.
‘‘We have reunions happen every year and so many of the old girls share stories of their time in Shand. It was everything to them at Craighead — it’s where they lived, where they were schooled, it really is the heart of the school.’’
Anyone looking for more information on the project or how to support it can find out more by emailing development@craighead.school.nz
