And the Town Hall WILL be repaired. Great jubilation all round. It was a 13-1 decision by the Christchurch city council this afternoon, and is the culmination of 4 years and nine months reports, investigations, testing, debate, (3 council debates in fact) and much anxiety for those who have loved this space for so many reasons. Compelling emotional reasons aside, the crux of the success of the decision is that it makes perfect financial sense to repair the entire structure. 
Check out some of the initial Press report of the decision here

We'll be keeping a good watch on progress of repairs, with happy hearts and huge impatience. 
Now to get a good night's sleep.

In a whirl of Tweetings, Facebook postings, emails, phone calls and any other means of communication we are embarked on one last fight: the Christchurch City Council meets this Thursday for once and for all to consider the Deloitte report on the viability of the rebuild/restoration of the Christchurch Town Hall. Martin will be making a submission along with many others to the council on Wednesday (tomorrow) and the public debate and private council meeting will happen on Thursday.  If you can, and want to, contact the city councillors with your views; if tweeting, use the hashtag #ilovechchtownhall. It's vital that we show our appreciation of this hall and back the findings of the Deloitte firm in their report. (Unfortunately the Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery and the Earthquake Commission, the Hon. Gerry Brownlee, didn't think it necessary to read this report before blabbing to the media about how the rebuild should not go ahead; and The Press, even more stupidly, didn't think it was odd to print such comments given they were based on ignorance.  
It would also pay to keep in mind the very heartening choice of our Christchurch Town Hall as one of the top 10 halls in the world ; read this article here.
Anyway, we are doing all we can. What follows is the list of councillors you should contact before Thursday : 


Mayor Lianne Dalziel
www.facebook.com/LianneDalzielMayor
@LianneDalziel
[email protected]

Deputy Mayor Vicki Buck
Email: [email protected]

Councillor Raf Manji:
https://www.facebook.com/RafManji2013
@rafmanji
[email protected]

Councillor Ali Jones:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ali-Jones-Shirley-Papanui-Ward-Councillor-for-CCC/439629189489578
@AliJonesCCC
[email protected]

Councillor Glenn Livingstone:
@glenn20thirteen
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Glenn-Livingstone-City-Councillor-BurwoodPegasus/128772333816270
[email protected]

Councillor Yani Johanson
@yanij
https://www.facebook.com/CrYaniJohanson

Councillor Jamie Gough:
@jtgough
https://www.facebook.com/jamiegoughpage
[email protected]

Councillor David East:
Email: [email protected]

Councillor Andrew Turner:
Email: [email protected]

Councillor Phil Clearwater:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Phil-Clearwater/634152839928996
Email: [email protected]

Councillor Paul Lonsdale:
@Paul_Lonsdale
https://www.facebook.com/VotePaulLonsdale
[email protected]

Councillor Jimmy Chen:
Email: [email protected]

Councillor Pauline Cotter:
Email: [email protected]

Christchurch City Council official twitter and FB account:
@ChristchurchCC
https://www.facebook.com/ChristchurchCityCouncil

Ahead of the decision this Thursday, The Press published this reaction to the report for the Christchurch City Council: Work could start soon on restoring the Christchurch Town Hall.
The report was comprehensive and very positive. You can read it in its entirety if you follow this link and scroll down to the June 11 date. The report is contained in the appendix to the agenda for the Christchurch City Council meeting on Thursday. 

Better still, if you live in Christchurch, go to the public debate in the morning, before the council shuffle off to chat things over in private... 

Cross all digits, people.
PS: we wouldn't want to have to start again really, would we??!?