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June 23, 2016

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Home » City specials » Ningbo

Restoration wraps up and iconic pride-of-Ningbo church is set to re-open

By Hattie Fisher and Ruby Gao | June 23, 2016, Thursday | Print Edition

WHILE walking along the Old Bund, one can truly feel the cultural significance that saturates the coastal city of Ningbo. This historic atmosphere was fashioned during the city’s many years serving as the major seaport of China. Perhaps the best physical manifestation of this history and culture is Ningbo’s Catholic Church, a joint architectural effort involving French immigrants and local Ningbo citizens.

The church was all but destroyed by fire in 2014 but quick-acting local officials and the church’s historical importance — not only to Ningbo, but to all of China — resulted in a massive renovation project to restore its glory. Construction of the chapel is scheduled to be completed by the end of this month. Ningbo residents will be able to revel in this architectural wonder, one that represents the intermingling of two cultures and the splendor of a bygone era that will forever be a part of the essence of their modern city.

Built in 1872 when Ningbo’s harbor had just opened to Western seafarers, the church’s architecture reflected this momentous union of East and West. The construction methods and expertise of both cultures were combined to finish the project. The outside of the chapel was done in traditional French Gothic style, topped off by Chinese roof tiles. The interior frame was built with wooden supports in a traditional Chinese fashion.

The church is not merely a beautiful cultural relic, but also functions as a place of worship and has served the religious denizens of Ningbo for over a century. The grounds occupy 8,360 square meters and feature six separate buildings. These include the chapel and three administrative buildings, all constructed in the 19th century, and two additional buildings that were built in the 1980s.

Restoring its glory

Yang Jun, head of the Ningbo Jiangbei District Cultural Protection Bureau, remembers the day of the fire well. Yang was one of the first people to arrive after it was extinguished.

“The fire destroyed the wooden frame inside the building, which caused the roof to cave in, suffocating most of the fire. The rest of the blaze was pushed out through the bell tower, which acted like a chimney. Thankfully, the outside is made of brick, and was relatively undamaged,” Yang recalled.

The loss of the church was a devastating blow to the community which to this day still thinks of the church as one of the city’s major landmarks.

“Restoring a cultural protection site is not a simple job,” explained Yang, with a sigh. “There’s a whole bunch of procedures one must follow.”

The city has worked tirelessly to expedite the restoration of the churchyard. But even with national approval, there was still more planning to be done. To make matters more complicated, the restoration actually involves three stages that all must be carried out to the letter.

First is restoration of the chapel itself, sanctioned on a national level. While the Ningbo government provided the requisite materials, a team of architects was brought in from Shanghai to complete this part, Shanghai companies being considered to have more experience with the intricacies of Western architectural styles. The second part of the project involves protecting and maintaining the three other historical buildings on the grounds.

The third and final phase covers the remaining two buildings on the church grounds: since they were built in the 1980s, their external features do not match the rest of the structures. This final step involves modifying the outside of these newer buildings to ensure uniformity. The capital required for this massive undertaking amounted to 28 million yuan (US$4.25 million), 18 million yuan of which is being provided by government, while the other 10 million yuan is being supplied by the church.

The restored façade of the chapel and other signs of progress make it seem as though this complicated reconstruction project has been remarkably quick and painless. But, to the contrary, Yang has a laundry list of issues the team encountered. The two most troublesome involved the private ownership of the property and determining how to preserve the cultural integrity of the construction site.

As to the former, the major problem was that the land rights belong to the church rather than the government. This resulted in a clash of private and public interests where the renovations were concerned. 

Also, the buildings’ owners were originally unwilling to renovate as they did not want to incur the cost. Restoration is generally more expensive than simple construction because it entails the use of special materials and extra measures to preserve the historical nature of buildings. A completely new construction uses whatever methods and materials are cheapest.

“The reality of the situation is, if someone lives in a cultural preservation site they are responsible for the cost of restoration. That’s the law,” Yang stated gravely.

Thankfully, this particular pitfall was avoided and the owner was able to reach an agreement with the government so that construction could proceed. But the issue was whether or not to raise the foundation of the building to prevent the grounds from flooding.

“People don’t realize that cultural protection has a lot of components,” said Yang with a sigh. “We’re not just protecting the architecture, but also the geographic details of the site.”

Ningbo’s church was originally built on the level at which it currently sits, and the modern city rose around it.

According to Yang, if they raised the building, it would destroy the geography of the area. That had implications in a variety of fields, including research into the climate, geology and history of Ningbo. Instead of raising the foundation, Yang and his team decided to install water pumps to expel water from the low-lying churchyard.

“It won’t destroy the architecture, and it costs less!” Yang said.

Ningbo


 

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