For over a decade, The Hub has provided an inclusive space for thousands of people in Ōtautahi. But now the former school it called home is being sold off, and its future is up in the air.
The sun is shining on Phillipstown for The Hub’s Spring Gala, and east Christchurch is out in force. Veteran activist John Minto is bopping to reggae in a Free Palestine T-shirt and Labour MP Duncan Webb is sweating at the grill in the midst of his free sausage sizzle. The long line of hungry punters snakes past the craft zone where kids are making poi and painting game pieces. Around the corner, the mara kai is popping with marigolds, herbs and leafy greens. “Yes, you can harvest for yourself,” the sign reads. “Please only take enough for tonight’s meal.”
It’s a vision of community and connection so idyllic that it seems almost unbelievable. Outside The Hub offices, local crooner Mel Towers sings ‘What a Wonderful World’ over the PA as strangers shake hands at the shared tables and tiny tots in Marvel T-shirts do danger runs across the dance floor. Even passive observers like me are not immune to the magnetic pull, as a young mum with a big dog soon asks me to take her shy little boy inside to get some water. There, I get chatting to a friendly volunteer who mows The Hub’s lawns every week.
“I heard they’re going to tear this place down,” he says. “We’ve got to do something.”
The craft zone at The Hub Spring Gala. (Image: Alex Casey)
The Hub has been operating from the former school site since 2013, when Phillipstown Primary was closed down in the aftermath of the 2011 earthquakes. For over a decade, the old classrooms have become home for dozens of community organisations including the Linwood Islamic Trust, The Canterbury Refugee Resettlement and Resources Centre, The Green Lab and Ōtautahi Creative Spaces. There’s also a giant market-grade garden growing organic food, as well as free or koha classes such as ukulele, bonsai workshops, crafts and parenting groups.
“A lot of neighbourhoods around the motu have community hubs, but we’re a little bit unique in that we’re more of a collective,” says The Hub’s trust manager Sander Kriek. “We’re a safe, vibrant space with lots of constant activity and a real melting pot of community-led stuff, community development stuff, and social service provision.” Because of the school layout, the different groups will often commune in the shared outdoor spaces. On Wednesdays, for example, Mums n’ Bubs meets alongside the homeless support group.
“It’s beautiful to see everyone just running around together, because they’re all just people,” says Kriek. “Whether you’re homeless, or a corporate person, or the prime minister, we’ve just created this cool atmosphere where everyone can come together.”
Sudi Dargipour and Sander Kriek outside The Hub’s offices, aka former classrooms. (Image: Alex Casey)
Ōtautahi Creative Spaces is another group that has been operating out of The Hub for over a decade, offering access to art studios and supplies for people who have experienced mental distress and trauma. “Being in this space is like a launchpad for our artists to be part of other things, whether it’s helping in the garden, coming to the festivals or being part of other groups,” says director Kim Morton. “It’s a really safe space for people to branch out, because our artists might live in small spaces with no garden or struggle with isolation, so it really lifts spirits.”
Through creative practices, the group has helped hundreds of people in Ōtautahi over the last decade. Following the March 15 terror attacks on the Linwood and Al Noor mosques, Ōtautahi Creative Spaces held art therapy workshops for those in the Muslim community affected by the tragedy, including the 51 Threads project. This is how Sudi Dargipour, now The Hub’s chairperson, first became involved. “I have a real emotional attachment to that place being a safe place – you go there and you can just forget about everything outside, and just be.”
Although The Hub has hosted thousands of community events, employed over 150 people and chalked up 78,000 hours of volunteer work over the last decade, Kriek says the situation with the Ministry of Education, who own the land, has always been tenuous. Leases never extended beyond a year or two, and recent requests to fix infrastructure like broken pipes, or make the buildings more accessible, were declined. Then, at the end of September, Kriek was informed that the crown would begin the disposals process – or in other words, the land was to be sold.
A site map of The Hub, home to many local community groups. Image: Alex Casey
“We can confirm that part of the former Phillipstown School site at 39 Nursery Road in Christchurch is to be disposed of, following a decision that the land is no longer required for educational purposes,” Sandra Orr, head of property for the Ministry of Education told The Spinoff in a statement, adding that the ministry can only hold land for education purposes (Kriek says The Hub had previously pitched a proposal to the ministry to be considered as a site of “special needs education” but was ultimately unsuccessful).
Upon receiving the news, Kriek and the wider trust made the decision to announce The Hub would be closing in March 2026. “There were some tears around the loss, because this isn’t just a job where you get paid – you’re in it because you love it and because you actually believe in it,” he says. “Our volunteers were arguably the hardest hit, because they’re the ones that come for free – they come because it gives them connection. It gives them family, friendship, and they’re immediately going, ‘where am I going to go? What am I going to do?’”
Morton at Creative Spaces Ōtautahi says it’s ironic that the Ministry of Education are disposing of a site which has helped thousands in the Ōtautahi community learn new skills over the last decade. “We’ve got very linear thinking about what’s education, and what’s a good learning environment,” she says. “One of our artists recently said, ‘I love coming here because people don’t think I’m a weirdo’. You can be yourself here and be loved and accepted for who you are, which has not always been our people’s experience in the education system.”
The Creative Spaces artists at work in an old classroom. Image: Supplied
As one of the eight community organisations leasing a space in The Hub, Morton has started the “tough” process of seeking out a new home for her artists to work – some of which have been there since 2015. “It’s feeling quite hard because meeting commercial rents in Christchurch is going to really stretch us as an organisation,” she says. “I’d say we’re staying philosophical about it, but it will be a devastating loss for the local community. This place gave us the opportunity to create a really different, inclusive and empowering learning space.”
While there has been “heartbreak” around The Hub since the news broke, there may also be a glimmer of hope. A Christchurch City Council spokesperson told The Spinoff that the Crown disposal process allows other public entities to acquire the property, and that council is currently “working through the related issues and options to determine whether to pursue that opportunity” with The Hub. “A decision on the preferred approach will be made through a council resolution in the new year, once all relevant factors have been considered,” they said.
In the meantime, Kriek says they are going to try and “party hard” at The Hub until the planned closure in March. “What we need to make sure that we do is to keep making everybody connect and feel the sense of togetherness,” he says. “What always gets me is we have so many differences in our community, and yet when you come to one of our events or groups at The Hub, everyone’s happy and they’re laughing. You get to forget about the news, and all of the differences and the hatred and the violence and the poverty and the gaps.”
“We reflect what society is,” he adds. “And that reflection is really fucking positive.”