The Hack Circle or Hack was a nickname given to an amphitheatre

Amphitheatre

An amphitheatre is an open-air venue used for entertainment and performances.There are two similar, but distinct, types of structure for which the word "amphitheatre" is used: Ancient Roman amphitheatres were large central performance spaces surrounded by ascending seating, and were commonly used...

 in central Christchurch

Christchurch

Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the country's second-largest urban area after Auckland. It lies one third of the way down the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula which itself, since 2006, lies within the formal limits of...

, New Zealand. It was built as part of the second phase of developing a pedestrian mall in the central city in 1989 and was officially opened on 6 December of that same year by then mayor Vicki Buck

Vicki Buck

-Political life:Elected to the Christchurch City Council in 1975 at the age of 19, she became the city's first woman mayor fourteen years later.She began her political career as a member of the Labour Party, but stood for mayor as an independent. An active and vigorous leader, she is widely...

. For a time it was a popular Hacky Sack

Hacky Sack

thumb|right|200px|A Hacky SackHacky Sack is the trademarked name of a type of footbag.-History:The name "hacky sack" came from the 1972 inventors of the Footbag, John Stalberger and Mike Marshall. Although Marshall suffered a fatal heart attack in 1975, Stalberger continued the business. At a...

 venue (hence the name), latter it became a popular hang out for "black-dressed emo

Emo

Emo is a style of rock music and its associated subcultureEmo may also refer to:- Businesses :* Emo , an Irish oil company and filling station chain* Emo Speedway, a racetrack in Emo, Ontario...

s, goth

Goth subculture

The goth subculture is a contemporary subculture found in many countries. It began in England during the early 1980s in the gothic rock scene, an offshoot of the post-punk genre. The goth subculture has survived much longer than others of the same era, and has continued to diversify...

s, heavy metal

Heavy metal music

Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...

 fans and United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 style gangsta

Gangster

A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Some gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from mob and the suffix -ster....

s". A 2004 survey conducted by the Christchurch City Council

Christchurch City Council

The Christchurch City Council is the local government authority for Christchurch in New Zealand. It is a territorial authority elected to represent the people of Christchurch. Since 2007, the Mayor of Christchurch is Bob Parker, who stood as an independent candidate...

 identified the Hack Circle as a popular place for young people to "hang out, smoke, meet friends etc." The same survey found that 90% of 13–15 year olds and 94% of 16–18 years olds came to the central city in their spare time.

Christchurch police claimed the Hack Circle was a venue for criminal activity; on 20 October 2006, a 19 year old was arrested for swinging a metal pipe around, and police claim that aggravated robbery, assault and the trafficking of cannabis

Cannabis

Cannabis is a genus of flowering plants that includes three putative species, Cannabis sativa, Cannabis indica, and Cannabis ruderalis. These three taxa are indigenous to Central Asia, and South Asia. Cannabis has long been used for fibre , for seed and seed oils, for medicinal purposes, and as a...

 happened in the area. Sergeant Murry Hurst told The Press

The Press

The Press is a daily broadsheet newspaper published in Christchurch, New Zealand. It is owned by Fairfax Media.- History :The Press was first published on 25 May 1861 from a small cottage in Montreal Street, making it the oldest surviving newspaper in the South Island of New Zealand. The first...

that "Ninety per cent of the kids hanging around there are fine, the other 10% cause the problems."

In February 2007 Senior Sergeant Glenn Dobson told The Press that the young people in the Hack Circle were not as intimidating as they could look to others, and commented that "[W]e can't move them on because they look different". Millionaire Christchurch property owner Antony Gough, who is considered one of the most powerful people in the city was an advocate of stronger security for the Cashel Street mall, particularly the Hack Circle, telling The Press that the people who associate there "are just very scary".

Destruction

In October 2006, the city council announced plans to demolish the amphitheatre and replace the pedestrian mall its located in with a one way slow road. Daniel Griffiths, a student at nearby Unlimited

Unlimited paenga tawhiti

Unlimited Paenga Tawhiti is a state secondary school located in the city centre of Christchurch, New Zealand.It was established in 2003 by the Christchurch-based Learning Discovery Trust which had earlier set up the primary Discovery 1 School, and is one of just eleven schools running under the...

 high school, stated that the council plan was to remove an "undesirable youth element" though the council stated this was not their intention.

On 14 December 2006 the city council voted 7-6 to go ahead with plans to build a road through the pedestrian mall that the Hack Circle is located in, despite "overwhelming opposition". Councillor Bob Shearing said the council's original decision to dump the slow-road happened because it was captivated by a group of people using the City Mall as a "school playground". This comment was criticised by a number of Christchurch citizens, the 19 December issue of The Press carried a number of letters to the editor on the subject, one stated "I am appalled at the sneering remark by Cr Bob Shearing, about young people using the mall as a school playground. What sort of message does it send to the young people who took the time and effort, not only to write a submission but to front up to the council to present it?". Another noted that of the 570 submissions to the council on the plans to build a road, 400 of them were against the proposal, commenting "it is clear the council cares not a jot for public feedback"

On 18 May 2007, Food Not Bombs

Food Not Bombs

Food Not Bombs is a loose-knit group of independent collectives, serving free vegan and vegetarian food to others. Food Not Bombs' ideology is that myriad corporate and government priorities are skewed to allow hunger to persist in the midst of abundance...

 and students from Unlimited Paenga Tawhiti

Unlimited paenga tawhiti

Unlimited Paenga Tawhiti is a state secondary school located in the city centre of Christchurch, New Zealand.It was established in 2003 by the Christchurch-based Learning Discovery Trust which had earlier set up the primary Discovery 1 School, and is one of just eleven schools running under the...

 gathered in the Hack Circle to "reclaim public space" and oppose the plans of the city council and the business group appointed to manage the area (Central City Business Association/City Mall Business Steering Committee) chaired by Anthony Gough, and also including business owner Richard Ballantyne and property developer Dave Henderson

David Henderson (Christchurch, New Zealand)

David Henderson is a Christchurch, New Zealand based property developer.In 1994 he founded the Libertarian magazine the Free Radical. He was also a student of Zenith Applied Philosophy, "It really sparked my interest. I found it greatly stimulating and inspiring, immensely so...

, As well as Melbourne

Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

 based property investor Michael Ogilvie-Lee, who was a significant financial backer of mayor Bob Parker's 2007 election campaign.

Destruction of the Hack Circle began in February 2008. It was replaced not with a slow road however but with a renovated pedestrian mall. The renovations on the area formerly home to the Hack Circle were completed in October 2008.

Opposition and protest

The destruction of the Hack Circle was an important issue for young people in Christchurch; in August 2007 Canterbury University

University of Canterbury

The University of Canterbury , New Zealand's second-oldest university, operates its main campus in the suburb of Ilam in the city of Christchurch, New Zealand...

 student magazine Canta

Canta (magazine)

Established in 1930, Canta is the official magazine of the University of Canterbury Students' Association of the University of Canterbury. It is freely available around campus every Wednesday during term time...

 questioned four students on the issue, all had strong opinions on the redevelopment, despite apathetic opinions on other issues such as Student Association

University of Canterbury Students' Association

The University of Canterbury Students' Association is a student organisation associated with the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, established in 1894. All current students of the University have automatic membership. It is funded by students and is governed by a constitution through 12...

 elections. Gloria Sharplin, a spokesperson for a protest that occurred at the mall on 7 August told The Press "Young people are being made to feel unwelcome. The hack circle and the fountain are not great places, but it is all you have when you have no money. They can't shut us up and just drive us out of the city."

Another protest occurred on 13 August 2007, as demolition of the Stewart Fountain near the Hack Circle began. A number of young people were arrested for protesting against the demolition in the afternoon. That morning local industrialist Sir Robertson Stewart, the public benefactor who had offered to continue his family's funding of the fountain, had died. Protester Jayde Henry commented "It's terrible that they started today. They must have known."

New Hack Circle

In a 2009 Press article, Central City Business Association manager Paul Lonsdale referred to the former location of the Hack Circle, now a paved area with some seating (but notably no amphitheater) as "The new Hack Circle."

External links

• Christchurch Central City Revitalisation Project Christchurch City Council plan involving the removal of the "Hack Circle" amphitheatre.