I didn't want to detract from the threads currently being discussed about the loss of the historic Notre Dame cathedral so I started this thread.
As posted by Jim Becker, restoring a century old building to meet current safety standards in most countries is difficult at best if you try to maintain a purist attitude.
In 1999, I met a coworker from New Zealand in a corporate 3 week class in Milwaukee. We were part of a 3 man lab group and became instant best friends. He was the lead engineer for our employer on the south island of New Zealand. Two years later he offered me a position at Dunedin which I declined. After nearly a decade of hearing my desire to some day visit my friend, also named Ken, and his lovely wife, our youngest son and wife generously gifted us with a 40th anniversary gift of a 10 day trip to New Zealand. Though we were met at the airport by a driver, my friend also was there stating he'd pick us up later at our hotel. Later that evening he gave us a driving tour of Christchurch. After drinks at a beachside bar where we met his wife, we went to dinner and they gave us another driving tour of the historical downtown area of Christchurch where century old buildings reside next to newly constructed buildings. The architects had used care in the design so there wasn't a clash between 2 or more buildings built in different centuries. I was amazed how well the considered designs melded together.
Our 10 day trip to New Zealand amounted to flying in to a couple cities on both islands and doing the local tourist things. It only kindled our desire to see more of the gorgeous country. We, my wife and I, met in 1968 after I had already enlisted in the US Navy and just before I was due to leave for boot camp so we didn't have time nor could we afford a honeymoon. So for 2 years beginning in 2012, we planned a honeymoon trip of 34 days in Australia, NZ and Fiji. In 2014 we took that honeymoon where we spent another 2 weeks in NZ but this time we traveled by regularly scheduled buses, trains and a ferry from the south island to the north island. We toured Christchurch again with my friend Ken and his wife AFTER the earthquakes. The devastation was incredible. Huge squares totally demolished. The historic buildings never built to with stand earth quakes were gone BUT so were the ones built to withstand earth quakes. The utilities were all installed in the ground, sewage, water, electrical and with the ground shifts caused by the earthquakes, they couldn't even begin to predict when they'd be able to restore services so the leveled they new ones as they cleaned up the rubble. They installed chain link fences to keep people from unsafe conditions.
It had been a lifelong dream of mine to tour Ireland to see the country from where my ancestors emigrated. 30 months ago my wife and I toured Ireland with 30 others by bus. We took a walking tour of Cork and at one point with a local historian as our guide we stood on a corner. He pointed out buildings built in 5 different centuries, all standing together and designed with a grace that made their styles work well together.
I can only imagine the difficulties that lie ahead in the clashes of ideas and making the decisions in the reconstruction of Notre Dame cathedral!
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Originally Posted by Ken Fitzgerald
