The Christ Church Cathedral could be reopened in five years under a new, cheaper restoration plan, halving a massive funding shortfall.
A proposal just announced would be about $40m cheaper and involves doing the work in stages.
The cost of restoring the quake-damaged building had blown out to $219m, leaving a shortfall of about $85m.
The rebuild was paused indefinitely last year. RNZ's Christchurch reporter, Keiller MacDuff has been at the announcement.
Work underway on north side of Christ Church Cathedral Photo: supplied
