Canterbury Earthquake National Memorial

The Blueprint gave the first quarter of 2016 as the project finish date in its indicative time line.

[3] The purpose of the memorial is described as follows in the Blueprint:[4] A place where people can spend time in reflection and honour those who lost their lives or were injured in the earthquakes will be developed in central Christchurch.

Because this is such a significant project, it should begin early, not be rushed and involve the community and families of those who died.At the time the Blueprint was released, an informal earthquake memorial, 185 empty chairs, had already been created by local artist Peter Majendie.

The site connects to the inner city via a pathway through mature plane trees, leading towards the Bridge of Remembrance, and to the west along Ōtakaro / Avon River to the Botanic Gardens and Hagley Park.The objectives for the memorial were for a design that:[9] Parties interested in the competition had to register with the Christchurch Central Development Unit (CCDU) to obtain a registration number, which had to be shown on all submitted material as an identifier.

At the release, Wagner expressed the hope that the memorial "would be at least partially built" by the 2016 anniversary, indicating that the original time line would not be met.

[14] Construction of the memorial started with a groundbreaking ceremony by the Prime Minister – John Key, Earthquake Recovery Minister – Gerry Brownlee, Mayor of Christchurch – Lianne Dalziel, and Ngāi Tahu chairperson – Mark Solomon, on 12 November 2015.

The costs of the memorial were reported to be NZ$11m, with $10m from the government, and $1m from the Christchurch Earthquake Mayoral Relief Fund.