Wealthy philanthropist Ted Manson saves Auckland church

Wednesday, 7 July 2021

Supporters of an Auckland church want to turn the building into a music centre.

An Auckland church that was at risk of being turned into offices or a cafe after being put up for commercial tender, has been saved by wealthy philanthropist Ted Manson.

In May, a nationwide campaign was launched to save St David’s Presbyterian Church, the Auckland War Memorial Church located in Khyber Pass Rd, by Friends of St David’s Trust.

Paul Baragwanath, founder of Friends of St David’s, said Manson’s gesture was “an incredibly generous pledge”.

St David’s Presbyterian Church has been bought and saved from commercial use, following fears it would be turned into offices or a cafe.

“I am feeling very, very relieved and really feeling a sense of gratitude,” he said, describing Manson as a “passionate supporter” who has championed the cause ever since the trust’s inception back in 2014.

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Ted Manson has bought the three properties and will be transferring the ownership to the Friends of St David’s Trust.

“Ted bought all three properties to secure the future of St David’s,” he continued, explaining how the church had to be purchased alongside two other sites, the Old St David’s at 68 Khyber Pass Rd and the Madeira Lane car park, all in Grafton.

All three had been put up for sale in April following the congregation’s dissolution in November last year.

Manson said he did not want to buy all three sites but felt “there was no other way” he could be confident he would save the church.

Paul Baragwanath, the chairman of the Friends of St David’s Trust, will turn the church into an acoustic music venue.

“I had to, it was important to me as I could not let the church fall into the wrong hands,” he said.

Manson will now focus on working out the best way to develop the other sites, while Baragwanath will use the funds raised in his campaign to transfer the ownership of the church to the Friends of St David's Trust.

Baragwanath said that “while our hero here is Ted” he also wants to ensure credit is given where it is due: to the “thousands of volunteers and donators” who have helped along the church’s rocky ride.

“That is another aspect to this really beautiful story, the incredible volunteerism.”

In 2015, the trust created the Art of Remembrance project, an exhibition that saw thousands of pure brass Max Gimblett quatrefoils blanket the church to raise funds, in order to save it from the threat of demolition.

The masses that tirelessly helped plan and execute the exhibition stayed with Baragwanath for the years, and other threats, that followed.

The saving of the church means Baragwanath can continue his plans to repurpose it into St David’s Centre for Music, a space dedicated to acoustic concerts and music-focused workshops.

It is a vision that Manson describes as purely being Baragwanath’s but a concept he is “more than happy with” all the same.

“I am really excited, relieved and delighted about the building’s future as the St David’s Centre for Music,” said Baragwanath.

“This enables us to continue as a soldiers memorial and a sacred space, and to continue as a civil service, but also offer a sanctuary-style space where people can decompress and enjoy beautiful music.”

Before the church can become such a space, however, the restoration of the building has to be made an immediate priority.

“Straight away we need to replace the roof, we need to upgrade the tower, and we need to completely redo the electrics. We need to do all sorts of deferred maintenance, like fixing the plumbing.”

The jobs at hand mean the reopening date remains unclear but Baragwanath promises that he will be opening the doors “as soon as possible”.