Votes were to be cast under a simple FPP system by telling ones choice of candidate to the election officer, as the secret ballot had not yet been introduced.

The first set of buildings were a two-storey timber building, forming an L shape along the Durham Street frontage, with the Timber Chamber, modelled on 14th and 16th century English manorial halls, the meeting room for the Provincial Council.

This extension was along Durham and Armagh Streets and, together with the existing buildings, formed a courtyard.

[8] Dr Ian Lochhead, Associate Professor of Art History at the University of Canterbury, said that the Stone Chamber was for many the single biggest heritage loss of the February earthquake.

[9] Detailed engineering assessments showed that the buildings received so much damage that significant portions would have to be rebuilt.

[10] In 2018, the Christchurch City Council pushed out all restoration work of the buildings to at least 2029 as it did not have the funds to pay for the estimated $204 million repair bill.

The remaining $18M will be spent periodically over the next few years, with the exact timeline decided as part of the council’s new 10-year budget in 2024.The first stage of would include the reconstruction and restoration of the wooden buildings and stone towers on Durham and Armagh Streets.