“The Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament is regarded as one of the finest examples of church architecture in Australasia. Its architect, Francis William Petre, specialised in the building of churches and achieved considerable recognition in the field of architecture and engineering. The Cathedral so impressed George Bernard Shaw that he hailed its architect as a - New Zealand Brunellesch.”

It is located at the Moorhouse end of Barbadoes street. The Cathedral was blessed and opened on the 12th February 1905, at a total cost of fifty two thousand pounds.

The dome of the Catholic Cathedral on Barbadoes Street will be removed after an inspection revealed another large earthquake could topple it completely.

Expert advisers met with diocesan personnel today to consider the badly damaged Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament after an engineer's report showed the cathedral's dome is forcing weight-bearing structures outwards.

The building has been deemed too dangerous to enter since the September 4 earthquake and removal of the dome will be done by cranes at a distance from the site.

The Cathedral suffered further damage in the February 22 quake, with the two front towers collapsing and many stained glass windows breaking.

No decisions will be made about the future of the building until a detailed engineering report is generated after the dome has been removed.